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AN 



ILLUSTRATION ^ -^i- 6 



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OF 



THE TYPES, 

ALLEGORIES, AND PROPHECIES 



^ OF THE 



OLD TESTAMENT. 



BY WILLIAM McEWEN, 

MINISIEB OF TEE GOSPEL AT SirNSEE. 



PITTSBUEGH ; 
ELLIOTT & ENGLISH, 

1849. 



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PRINTED BY SEO. PARKIN & CO. 
THIRD ST. PITTSBURGH. 



S!C7 

'/ PREFACE, 



The Rev. William McEwen, the anthor of the following 
Treatise, was a highly accomplished and evangelical minister of 
the Gospel, at Dundee, Scotland. He died at Leith, on the 13th 
of January, 1762, in the twenty-eighth year of his age, and 
seventh of his ministry. 

The following short account of him appeared in the Edin- 
burgh newspapers, immediately after his death. 

*' Died, at Leith, of a sudden illness, on the 13th Jan. 1762, 
the Rev. Mr. William McEwen, minister of the Gospel at Dun- 
dee. A good genius, a clear head, a lively fancy, cultivated by 
a liberal education, and improved by close study, and enlarged 
by an early acquaintance with real and vital religion, laid the 
foundation of that amiable, important, and useful character he 
maintained throughout the whole course of his ministry. Courte- 
ous SLnd condescending, meek and humble in his own eyes, far 
from affecting human applause, he aimed at an object infinitely 
more noble, the honor that cometh from God alone, which made 
him both faithful and diligent in his holy vocation. Conciseness 
of method, and perspicuity of style, added to solidity of judg- 
ment, rendered his preaching equally instructive to the wise, and 
intelligible to the ignorant. Warm with zeal for God, and com- 
passion for men, his constant endeavor was, to display the 
amiable excellencies of the incarnate Redeemer to the needy 
souls of perishing sinners. Not neglecting in his own conduct 
what he recommended to the practice of others, his life was a 
fair and beautiful transcript of his doctrine. Cut down in the 
prime of life and public usefulness, his death is universally 
lamented as a severe and afflicting loss to his friends, his congre- 
gation, the Church of God." 

An Introduction from an e xperienced minister of the Gospel, 
is now published for the first time with this work. 

The Evangelical History, together with Thoughts on various 
Subjects, sometimes published with this work, but which have no 
bearing upon the main subject, are omitted in this edition. 



CONTENTS. 

INTRODUCTION, ^9°® 

BOOK I.— Typical Persons. 

I. Christ and Adam compared, I3 

II. The history of Noah, 19 

III. The history of Melchizedec, 24 

IV. The history of Isaac, 29 

V. The history of Jacob, 37 

VI. The history of Josepfi. 44 

VII. The history of Moses,' 50 

VIII. The ordinance of the priesthood, 56 

IX. The history^ of Joshua, • • • 63 

X. The history of Sampson, 69 

XI. The history of David, 75 

XII. The history of Solomon, 81 

XIII. The history of Jonah, 86 

BOOK II.— Typical Things. 

I. The vision of Jacob's ladder, 93 

II. The vision of the burning bush, 97 

III. The pillar of cloud and fire, 103 

IV. The manna in the wilderness, 109 

V. The rock in the wilderness, 115 

VI. The brazen Serpent, 121 

VII. Thoughts on the vail of Closes, 123 

Vin. Of Sacrifices, ' I34 

IX. The ordinance of the passover, 145 

X. The ordinance of the scape-goat, 149 

XI. The ordmance of the red heifer, 156 

XII. The ordmance of the year of Jubilee, 162 

XIII. The law of the leper, 169 

XIV. The law of the near kinsman, 179 

XV. The holy nation oi Israel^ 184 

XVI. The victory over the nations of Canaan, 189 

XVII. The allegory of Hagar and Sarah, 192 

BOOK III.— Typical Places. 

I. The law of the cities of refuge, 200 

II. The tabernacle in the wilderness,- •• 205 

III. The temple of Solomon, 213 

1. The ordinance of the ark and mercy-seat, 217 

2. The ordinance of the golden table, 223 

3. The ordmance of the golden candlestick, 226 

4. The ordinance of the golden altar, 229 

5. The ordinance of the brazen altar, 233 

6. The ordinance of the brazen laver, 236 

7. The ordinance of the anointing oil, 239 

IV. The land of Canaan, ■ • • 242 

V. The holy city^ of Jerusalem, and the holy hill of Zion, 246 

1, The feast of tabernacles,.- •..•».. 249 

2, The fast of anniversary atonement, 255 

3, The feast of first fruits and of Pentecost, 261 

4, The feast of the new moon, 266 

0, T^e laetaphorical priesthood of all Christians,- • 269 



INTRODUCTION. 



This brief Treatise on the Types, Allegories, and Prophecies of 
the Old Testament, is earnestly recommended to every candid 
inquirer after the truth as it is in Jesus, because it is designed to 
remove the vail which covers and obscures the great doctrines of 
the Old Testament; and shows satisfactorily that they all point 
to Christ and salvation only in his name, and illustrate and 
establish our holy Faith and Profession, That every sincere 
reader of the New Testament ought to be acquainted with the 
types and doctrines of the Old, none will deny. Why was the 
Old Testament given to the world so many centuries before t^ 
New? Surely to prepare the world for the reception of the 
promised Messiah when the fulness of the time should come. 
Why is it placed in the beginning of the Holy Scriptures ? Not 
on account of its antiquity, but certainly its utility, to prepare 
the mind of the humble Christian, to read the New Testament 
with satisfactory understanding; as the grammar must be learned, 
before a satisfactory knowledge of the language can be obtained. 
Why was the humble appearance of Christ and his crucifixion, a 
stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks ? 
Because they neglected to read and understand the types and 
prophecies of the Old Testament. A similar neglect is the cause 
of the doubts and uncertainties, of not a few of the Christian 
world, in every age. Witness the doubts of the two disciples on 
their way to Emmaus — "we trusted it had been He which should 
have redeemed Israel." Witness also, the reproof and instruc- 
tion of the Great Teacher, on that occasion — "O fools and slow 
of heart to believe all that the prophets have written ; ought not 
Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory ? 



^ INTRODUCTION. 

and beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded untcJ 
them in all the Scriptures, the things concerning himself." 

Christian reader, please to notice two things in the example 
before you ; First. The order. Beginning at Moses and all the 
prophets. Too many begin at the Revelations, and of course 
must read the sacred book backwards. Second. The matter 
the Great Teacher pointed out, viz : the things concerning him- 
self. Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning, the end, 
and substance of all Scripture. The inestimable treasure hid, 
not in a sealed fountain or enclosed garden, but in the open field 
of the Old and New Testament to which all are invited, and in 
which all are permitted to dig, to seek that treasure. ** Search 
the Scriptures, (as one seeking the. precious metals,) for in them 
you think you have eternal life, and they are they that testify 
of me." The great design of Heaven in giving the Scriptures 
to our lost world, was to testify of Christ : our object in reading 
them should be to find Christ. The chapter in which you read 
and find no Saviour, you have read amiss. The hour you bestow 
on searching the Scriptures, if you find not the Saviour your 
labor and hour are lost. Examine and search the early Prophe- 
cies respecting him, they will afford you great satisfaction. The 
first shows the nature and design of Christ's appearance ; the 
seed of the woman was designed to bruise the serpent's head. 
Second. Prophecy shows his lineage from Abraham ; and in thy 
seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. The third 
shows his tribe and time of appearance. " The Sceptre shall 
not depart from Judah till the Shiloh come." The fourth shows 
his extraordinary nativity and nature. Behold a virgin shall 
conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Imraanuel, i. e. God 
in our nature. The fifth shows the place of his birth. Bethle- 
hem Ephrata — out of thee shall he come forth unto me. The 
sixth shows his humble appearance and rejection. He was 
despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted 
with griefs. The seventh shows his death by crucifixion. They 
pierced my hands and my feet. The eighth shows the manner of 
his' burial. He made his grave with the wicked and with the 
rich in his death. The ninth shows the duration of his abode in 
the grave, as Jonah was restored the third day from the bellv of 



INTRODUCTION. XI 

the monster of the ocean, so the Son of man was restored from 
the insatiable monster, the grave, on the third day. "Oh ^ave 
where is thj^ victory?" As the prophecies, so the types and 
allegories of the Old Testament are designed to lead us to Christ, 
to confirm and establish our faith, and trust in him alone for 
salvation. 

We have read how Isaac carried the wood on which he was 
to be offered, up the mountain of Moriah ; we have also read of 
Christ, the antitype, carrying the wood of the cross, on which he 
suffered, up the same mountain (the name only changed). We 
have read of the Paschal Lamb, slain by the appointment of 
heaven, its roasted flesh the nourishment and strength, its 
sprinkled blood, the protection and deliverance of oppressed 
enslaved Israel. Behold the lamb of God that taketh away the 
sin of the world. We have read of a rock in the wilderness, 
smitten by the appointment and rod of God, in the hand of Moses, 
that afforded water abundantly to supply the wants of the perish- 
ing thousands of Israel ; an inspired apostle informs us this rock 
was Christ, who furnishes his thirsty children drink, in our day, 
from the wells of salvation. We have also read how Moses, by 
the direction of heaven, elevated a brazen serpent on a pole, in 
sight of the camp of Israel, a look on which, restored the sick 
to health, and the dying to life. The Saviour applies this extra- 
ordinary cure to himself; as Moses lifted up the serpent in the 
wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that who- 
soever believeth on him should not perish but have eternal life. 

Christian reader, please to examine candidly the little treatise 
now before you — it contains a satisfactory illustration of the 
types and shadows of the Old Testament, and clearly shows they 
all point you to Christ the Saviour, as their substance, in our holy 
scriptures ; that you may continue the important inquiry till you 
can say to your brother, as Andrew did to Peter, we have found 
the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ ; or with the 
spouse in the song, I have found him whom my soul loveth; I 
held him and would not let him go. This is the earnest petition 
of your sincere friend in our common Lord. J, B, 



BOOK I. 
TYPICAL PERSONS. 

I. CHRIST AND ADAM COMPARED. 

The Almighty Creator had now finished the uni- 
versal frame of nature. He saw the heavens shining 
in all their glory, he beheld the earth smiling in all 
her beauty : the sea was stocked with fish, the air 
with fowls, the field with beasts. But still the master 
piece of this inferior world was wanting, a creature 
endued with reason, of upright stature, and qualified 
at once to rule over the rest of the creation, and cor- 
respond with his Creator. ** And the Lord God 
formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed 
into his nostrils the breath of life, and he became a 
living soul.'' — Gen. ii. 7. Thus far we are told by the 
Hebrew lawgiver. And we are further informed by 
the great Apostle of the Gentiles, that this first man, 
whose name was Adam, was the type or figure of 
" him that was to come." — Rom. v. 14. For aught 
we know, it might not so much as enter into the heart 
of Adam to conceive of this divine mystery; and Mo- 
ses himself the inspired penman of that truly an- 
cient and authentic history, might not perhaps adveit 
to it. But since God hath revealed it to us by his 
Spirit, let us attend where the resemblance lies, of 
the first to the second Adam ; which we shall obvi- 
ously find, whether we view him as the first man, 
the first father, the first lord, the first husband, or 
the first covenant-head. And let us learn to contem- 
plate the glory of that illustrious person who was so 
early typified, while we admire the depths of God's 



14 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

foreknowledge, in ordering matters so, that the his- 
tory of the first man, who was of the earth and 
earthly, was a prophecy of the second man, who is 
the Lord from heaven. 

To begin with the creation of our general ancestor. 
— Adam was the first man in the world of nature, 
who, being formed out of the dust of the ground, by 
the immediate hand of his Creator, was without fa- 
ther, and without mother, and, in a sense peculiar 
to himself, is called "the Son of Grod." — Lid^e iii. ult. 
He was also a creature perfectly new, to whom there 
was nothing like and nothing equal, among all the 
visible works of God ; for his person consisting of a 
visible body, and an invisible soul, was made after the 
image, and in the likeness of God, which chiefly con- 
sists in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. Now 
sure it is not difficult to perceive, that all these cha- 
racters exactly agi'ee to the second man, who is the 
first-born among many brethren in the world of 
grace, — without father, as man : without mother as 
God. His body was formed (not indeed of the dust of 
the ground, but in a manner equally unexampled and 
miraculous) of the virgin's substance, by the imme- 
diate power of God, and so soon as a reasonable soul 
was united to it, in the womb of the virgin, both 
were, that very moment, assumed into the divine 
person of the Son, wherefore, in all propriety, that 
holy thing which was born of her, was called " the 
Son of God ;" — Luke i. 35 ; or, to use the expression 
of an Old Testament Prophet, was ** a new thing 
created in the earth.'' — Jer. xxxi. 22. In the man 
Christ Jesus is found more of the divine likeness than 
all the saints, than all the holy angels can dare to 
boast. " For which of them have been called at any 
time, the brightness of the Father's gloiy, and the 
express image of his person 1 or to which of them has 
he said. Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten 
thee ]" — Heb. i. 3, 5. Adam, indeed, might resemble 



CHRIST AND ADAM COMPARED. 15 

his Creator as the image of the coin resembles the 
king upon the throne ; but Jesus Christ resembles 
God, as the prince and heir to the crown resembles 
his royal father, being not only like him, but of the 
same nature and substance with him. And though 
all similitudes must be infinitely defective in shadow- 
ing forth the constitution of Immanuers person, — the 
union of Adam's soul and body is perhaps the best 
natural emblem of it we can expect to find. Nor does 
it seem unlawful for us to assist our conception of 
this high mystery by this natural union, inasmuch as 
the Holy Ghost himself, in the Scriptures of the New 
Testament, seems to allude unto it, when he calls his 
humanity the flesh, and his divinity the spirit. In the 
former he was manifested, in the latter he was jus- 
tified. — 1 Tim. iii. 18. In the one he was put to death, 
and in the other he was quickened. — 1 Pet. iii. 18. If 
the constitution of the first Adam's person was a 
wonderful mystery in nature, the constitution of the 
second Adam's person is no less an incomprehensible 
mystery of grace. 

As Adam was the first man that God created, so 
he was the first father and progenitor of all other 
men, who are every one born in his image as they 
come into the world of nature and breathe the vital 
air. Just so, from Jesus Christ, the everlasting Fa- 
ther, all who come into the world of grace derive 
their spiritual being; his image they bear. — 1 Cor. 
xviii. 49 : and from him ''• the whole family in heaven 
.and in earth is named." — Eph. iii. 15. Though here 
also there is a considerable disparity betwixt the 
earthly man and the heavenly Adam. The first man is 
not the immediate but the remote father of our flesh, 
-—for, one generation goes, and another comes ;" but 
Jesus Christ is the immediate Father of all his saints, 
who in every age receive from him the light of life, 
as the silver moon, and all the sparkling stars, draw 
light immediately from the sun, the fountain of the 



16 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

day. " The first Adam," as Moses relates, ** wa^ 
made a living soul.'' — 1 Cor. xv. 45, that he might 
convey a natural life to them w^ho had not received 
it ; but " the second Adam,*' as the apostle declares, 
" w^as made a quickening spirit,'' to impart a spiritual 
life to them vv^ho had lost it, and vv^ere dead in tres- 
passes and sins : and at the resurrection of the just 
to quicken also their mortal bodies. For ** as in 
Adam all die, so in Christ all shall be made alive." 

Once more, Adam v^as the first lord and king of 
the vrorld. " Being made a little lov^er than the an- 
gels, he vras crowned with glory and honor. He had 
dominion over the works of God's hands ; and all 
things were put under his feet ; all sheep and oxen, 
the beast of the field, and whatsoever passeth through 
the paths of the seas." — Ps. viii. 3, 4, 5. But alas ! 
the dominion of this lord of the inferior creation was 
short lived ; for, ** being in honor, he continued 
not." — Ps. xlix. 12. Nevertheless, in the person of 
Jesus Christ, God-man, the primeval sovereignty of 
the human nature is most amply restored ; for " he is 
made head over all things unto his body the church, 
both in the heights and depths."— E ph. i. 22, The 
jurisdiction of Adam, though wide was not uni- 
versal ; but the kingdom of Jesus Christ ruleth over 
all. He can, if he pleases, extinguish the stars and 
the sun, which shine by his permission. And ** of 
his government and peace there shall be no end." — 
Is a. ix. 7. 

Now let us come to the marriage of our great pro- 
genitor. God saw it was not good for man to be alone: 
— Gen. ii. 18, he casts him into a deep sleep, opens 
his side, takes from him a rib, by his creative power 
he forms a woman out of it, closes the wound, pre- 
sents the newly formed creature to her husband, who 
being awaked knew what was done unto him, and 
with wonder acknowledged this last and best gift of 
heaven, to be bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh. 



CHRIST AND ADAM COMPARED. 17 

" For this cause," says the sacred historian, " should 
a man leave his father and mother, and cleave unta 
his wife/' — Gen. ii. 23. Now, may we be allowed 
to allegorize this real history ] Does not the apostle 
seem to say, that this is spoken of Christ and the 
church ] — Eph. v. 32. Let us modestly pursue the 
allegory a little. The second Adam, that he might 
give life and being to his beloved spouse, the church, 
the mother of all that are truly living, was content to 
sleep the sleep of death. This sleep of death was not 
the effect of nature, for he died not of old age or sick- 
ness ; but he was voluntarily cast into it, and was 
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknow- 
ledge of God to be crucified and slain . His side was 
opened with a spear, and from the gaping wound 
came water and blood, that he might sanctify and 
cleanse and present " to him a glorious church, not 
having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing." — Eph. 
v. 27. By this sleep of death, into which he was cast, 
he becomes at once her husband and her Father ; for 
she is a part of himself, of his body, of his flesh, and 
of his bones. — Eph. v. 30. When he awaked at his 
resurrection, his wounds were healed ; he found him- 
self a glorious conqueror ; he saw the travail of his 
soul, and was satisfied. He acknowledges the rela- 
tion, and betroths her to himself for ever in loving- 
kindness, in mercies, and in faithfulness. A bloody 
spouse was the church to thee, O, dying Redeemer ! 
So matchless was his love, he left his Father and his 
mother to cleave to his unworthy bride — he left his 
Father in heaven, when he came from thence into 
this lower world, and consented to be forsaken for a 
season — left his^ mother on earth, when he ascended 
on high as the Captain of Salvation. He left the 
blessed virgin that bare him to provide for herself; 
He left the church of the Jews, although his mother- 
church, that he might cleave unto the Gentile church, 
gathered out of all nations. 



18 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

Lastly, Adam was the first covenant-head, and 
pubhc representative. It is true, the hints of this 
transaction are but sparingly given in the book of 
Grenesis. However, the truth of it is clearly evinced 
from the tenor of divine revelation, and it is evident, 
that before the law was given by Moses, a law was 
given to Adam, because death reigned from Adam 
to Moses, and there behoved to be a law by which 
this death did reign. For, as the inspired apostle 
argues with the greatest force of reason, "sin is not 
imputed where there is no law.'' — Rom. v. 13. Was 
there then a law before the covenant of Sinai ? It 
was surely none other but the law of works, which 
God gave to the first man, in whom, as their cove- 
nant head, his posterity were either to stand or fall. 
Full well we know the doleful event. " But as by 
one man's disobedience many were made sinners ; so 
by the obedience of one, shall many be made righ- 
teous." — Rom. V. 19. The first Adam through pride 
disobeyed the most easy precept, and the last Adam 
obeyed the most difiicult commandment. The first 
Adam being a man, affected to be as God : the se- 
cond Adam, being God, was found in fashion as a 
man. The first Adam was assaulted by the devil in 
paradise, and was overcome : the second Adam was 
tempted in the wilderness by the same malicious 
spirit, but he was a conqueror. The first Adam 
breaking the law in one point, was guilty of all ; the 
last Adam observing it in every point, did magnify 
and make it honorable. The moment we become 
the children of Adam by natural generation, we die, 
for a sin which we could not personally commit : the 
moment we become the children of Christ by re- 
generation, we are made alive, by a righteousness 
which we could not actually work out. In Adam we 
are condemned for one sin ; but in Christ we are jus- 
tified from innumerable offences. In the first book 
of the Bible wb have a melancholy relation, how the 



THE HISTORY OF NOAH. 19 

first Adam was so far from being able to transmit 
life and happiness to his posterity, or to give them to 
eat of the tree of life, that himself was driven out 
from the terrestrial paradise, and debaiTed from all 
access to that sacramental tree ; but in the last book 
of the sacred oracles, we are presented with a view 
of the second Adam, in a far more glorious place than 
that happy garden, and hear him declaring from his 
own mouth, " To him that overcometh, will I give 
to eat of the tree of life, that is in the midst of the 
paradise of God.'' — Rev. ii. 7. 

For ever blessed be the glorious name of God, that 
what the first Adam could not keep, the second hath 
amply restored to us ; '' For as in Adam sin hath 
reigned unto death ; so grace hath reigned through 
righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our 
Lord : — Rom. v. 21, who is not only come that ^' we 
might have life, but that we might have it more abun- 
dantly." — John X. 10. 



II. THE HISTORY OF NOAH. 

That Noah was a figure of Jesus Christ, seems 
not obscurely hinted in his very name given him by 
his religious father, not without prophetic instinct. 
It signified rest, comfort, and, as some have observed, 
grace, when its letters are a little transposed. So 
Christ is our consolation, our rest, and by him grace 
reigns unto eternal life. Of him we may truly say 
with the strictest propriety, ** This same shall com- 
fort us concerning our work and toil of our hands." — 
Gen. V. 29. Noah " was a just man, and perfect in 
his generations, and walked vdth God." — Gen. vi. 
6. when the wickedness of man was grown to the 
most exorbitant height, and all flesh had corrupted 
their way, he dared to be good, when all were turned 



20 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

degenerate ; and, fearless of reproach or violence, he 
admonished them of their wicked ways, preaching 
righteousness in their assemblies. — 2 Pet. ii. 5. So 
Christ preserved his integrity in every the smallest 
instance, in an evil and adulterous generation, 
preaching what he practised, wdth not unlike success 
to Noah. For it is written of him in the Psalms, " I 
have preached righteousness in the great congrega- 
tion : lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord thou 
knowest." — Psal. xl. 9. In some seasons of the 
Almighty's vengeance, we are informed, that the 
righteousness of Noah, Daniel, and Job, could not 
deliver a sinning people, nor yet their nearest rela- 
tions, from the lifted stroke. — Ezek. xiv. 4. Truly 
Noah, though righteous, could not by his righteous- 
ness, avert the waters of the flood. But the right- 
eousness of our adorable Redeemer is of such infi- 
nite value and perfection, as to deliver from death 
an innumerable multitude of transgressors. 

But let us chiefly consider that memorable history 
of Noah, his preparing an ark for the saving of his 
house the antitype of which remarkable event, we 
are informed by the apostle Peter, is " our being 
saved by baptism (not the putting away of the filth 
of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience 
towards God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." 
— 1 Pet. iii. 21, 22. The long-suffering of God was 
now tired out, and his spirit ceased to strive with re- 
bellious men, whom all means had proved ineffec- 
tual to reclaim. The time was come when the 
threatened vengeance was to descend with resistless 
fury. Noah, being long before warned of God, had 
prepared an ark against the approaching deluge : for 
he believed God; and being moved with fear, he 
obeyed the commandment of the Lord. He despised 
the jeers of the unbelieving world, and considered 
not the huge difficulties he behoved to surmount, be- 
fore he could get a vessel constructed of such bulk 



THE HISTORY OF NOAH, 21 

as would contain in its capacious hold, all sorts of 
beasts and birds, together with their necessary pro- 
visions, for so long a time as he was to be a prisoner. 
That God who commanded him, that God in whom 
he believed, and whom he feared, enabled him also 
both to begin and finish. The ship is built, the cargo 
is taken in, the flood comes, and the waters prevail 
above the tallest trees, and loftiest mountains. The 
sinful race of man is buried in a watery grave. But 
the ark, the peculiar care of heaven, though without 
helm or mast, rides triumphant over the foaming 
billows, is preserv^ed from dashing on the craggy 
rocks, or foundering in the mighty waters. At length 
a dove fetching in her mouth an olive leaf, — Gen. 
viii. 11, informs the inhabitants of the ark, that the 
waters were abated. They are at last released from 
their tedious confinement. The venerable patiiarch, 
overwhelmed with gratitude for such a wonderful 
preservation amidst the howling waste, sacrifices, 
unto the Lord, who smells a savour of rest. — Gen. 
viii. 21, and renews with him his gracious covenant, 
that he will no more curse the ground for man's sake. 
A glorious rainbow is seen over his head stamped in 
the clouds, — Gen. ix. 13, which from that time be- 
came a peaceful sign that the v/aters shall never 
more cover the face of the earth ; and though the 
waves shall toss themselves against the sandy shores, 
that they shall never prevail. Who sees not in this 
whole transaction, a lively picture of the method of 
our salvation by Jesus Christ from a far more dread- 
ful flood, that shall sooner or later, descend upon the 
head of every sinner ? In Jesus Christ we have the 
antitype of Noah, both floating in the ark, standing 
at the altar, and compassed with the rainbow. In- 
deed he is at once the ark that saves us from the 
floods of divine wrath, the sacrifice that atones the 
incensed justice of God, and the rainbow that makes 
our clouds of every soit to wear sweet smiles. 

2 



22 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

Though Noah's ark, and sacrifice, and rainbow, were 
things different from himself, and from one another, 
in Jesus Christ they are all conjoined. 

What mortal wit would have contrived such an ex- 
pedient as the ark of Noah, to save from an univer- 
sal deluge ? — There is no doubt the whole scheme 
appeared very ridiculous to the generality of the 
world. Noah himself was not the contriver of this 
project. It was wholly planned by God. Even so, 
if men and angels had tortured their invention to 
save a guilty world, they could never have so much 
as suggested that method which the wisdom of God 
has fallen upon in the mediation of Jesus Christ. So 
far does it transcend the thoughts of men ; that na- 
turally they cannot receive the mystery of God's 
will : For it is " to the Jews a stumbling block, and 
to the Greeks foolishness.'' — 1 Cor. i. 23. In this 
wonderful vessel were found only eight souls, — 1 Pet. 
iii. 20 ; the little family of Noah ; and how small was 
that number to the myriads that perished in the 
waves ] — even so the flock of Christ is but a little 
flock ; for though ^^ many are called, yet few are 
chosen." — Mat. xx. 16. O how unsearchable are 
his judgments ! It was no doubt very strange to see 
the wildest beast, and birds dwelling peaceably to- 
gether under the same roof in that time of common 
danger; but no more strange than what happens 
every time when sinners are converted unto God, 
and enter into his sanctuary. For in Jesus Christ, 
the men of ravenous natures forget their natural fe- 
rocity, and put on, as the elect of God, bowels of 
mercy, humbleness of mind, meekness, and long 
suffering ; and, to use the lofty style of the prophet, 
** the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard 
shall lie down with the kid, and the young lion and 
fatling together : — they shall not hurt nor destroy in 
all my holy mountain." — Isa. xi. 6, Dreadful, to be 
sure, were the bufletings of the rolling surges on the 



THE HISTORY OF NOAH. 23 

sides of the ark, when heaven and earth seemed to 
conspire its ruin ; but being protected by a superior 
providence, the vessel though heavy laden, w^eather- 
ed the storm, preserved alive all the creatures that 
were within her, and at last rested upon the moun- 
tains of Arrarat. So did the waves and billows of 
the Father's wrath go over thine head, O suffering 
Saviour ; and the floods of ungodly men made thee 
afraid: — Psal. xviii. 4 ; but thou wast more than a 
conqueror, and at last did find thy rest on the moun- 
tains of eternal glory, having both saved thyself, and 
all that are found in thee : thou art our " hiding- 
place from the storm, and a covert from the tem- 
pest. If it had not been the Lord who was on our 
side, the water's of God's wrath had swallowed us 
up quick : then the waters had overwhelmed us, the 
stream had gone over our soul : the proud waters 
had gone over our soul." — Psal. cxxiv. 4. When 
we are told in the sacred history, that a dove alighted 
on the ark with an olive leaf, what should hinder 
us to think of the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ, who 
alighted upon him, in the waters of Jordan, in the 
likeness of that gentle bird ] and who brings glad 
tidings of great joy to all the inhabitants of the ark, 
when he assures them, by the most incontestible 
proofs, that the winter of wrath is past, and the rain 
is over and gone. — Song, ii 11. The holy Sire is 
now gone forth at the appointed season ; and behold- 
ing the dismal desolation he offers an atoning sacrifice 
of every clean beast and bird ; and the Lord smelled 
a savour of the rest. This naturally leads us to think 
of him who gave himself for us an offering and a sa- 
crifice of a sweet smelling savour. — Eph. v. 2. So 
well pleased is God with Jesus Christ, that with him 
he establishes his covenant, and with all his seed, 
that they shall never come into condemnation. Hear 
what himself declares by the mouth of the holy pro^ 
phet Isaiah : "This is as the waters of Noah mtiXq 



24 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

me ; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall 
no more go over the earth : so have I sworn that I 
would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee, O 
thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not com- 
forted." — Isa. liv. 9. See how the frowning clouds 
now smile with the glorious colors of the rainbow, 
the cheerful token of God's covenant. It is a bow, 
but it has no arrow ; and the face of it is turned away 
from us, in token of reconciliation. Such is the 

florious transformation of all your afflictions by 
esus Christ, O ye heirs of righteousness. They are 
clouds indeed, dark clouds, but they shall not drown, 
nay they shall fi-uctify your soul, and make you re- 
vive as the corn. What before was an indication of 
wrath, and a cause of fear, is now a token of love, 
and an encouragement of faith. A rainbow for ever 
encompasses the throne of your God, — Rev. iv. 3, 
though from it should proceed lightning and thun- 
ders and voices. Though, like that mighty angel in 
the revelation,-^Isa. x. 1, he should be clothed with 
a cloud in the dispensations of his providence, his 
sunny face will produce a rainbow round about his 
head. He is ever mindful of his covenant, and you 
need not fear the terrors of his glory. 



III. THE HISTORY OF MELCHIZEDEC. 

Now we shall come to the short, but comprehen- 
sive history of Melchizedec ; the figurative meaning 
of which is not only hinted to us in the sacred ora- 
cles, but the Holy Ghost condescends to enter on a 
very particular explication of it. — Heb. vii.. The 
narrative related by Moses is shortly this. — See Gen. 
xiv. The patriarch Abraham had, with his little 
army, surprised and defeated the forces of the confed- 
erate kings, who had plundered Sodom, and, among 



THE HISTORY OF MELCHIZEDEC. 25 

other prisoners had carried away captive his kins- 
man Lot, who, li^dng in that wicked city, was now a 
veiy singular blessing to his sinful fellow-citizens, 
being the occasion of their rescue, from the invaders 
of their countiy. As he returned from the slaughter, 
he was met by the king of Sodom, with another king 
of a very different character : his name was Mel- 
chizedec, which though a very fine one, for it signi- 
fies " king of righteousness,'' was not unsuitable to 
his real character, and is a proper admonition to all 
other kings for what they should be distinguished. 
The name of this city was Salem : whether it was 
that Salem where Jehovah afterwards had his taber- 
nacle, or another place of the same name, is not 
precisely determined. However, we are assured, 
that upon this occasion he brought forth bread and 
wine, not as a sacrifice to God, O ye papists, but to 
refresh the patriarch's men, fatigued wdth toil. But 
the most extraordinary circumstance of all is, that, 
though living in that wicked country, he was priest 
of the Most High God, and vested with legal digni- 
ty. When all around him was sunk in superstition 
and idolatry, this illustrious Gentile retained the 
knowledge of the true God, and thought it no dis- 
paragement of his kingly honor to officiate in the 
solemn rites of his holy worship. The hospitable 
monarch was a no less religious priest. As in the 
former capacity he brought forth bread and wine ; 
so in the latter, he blessed the renowned patriarch, 
and received from him the tithes of all. Thus far the 
sacred story. But from what parents he descended, 
w^hen he was born, or when he died, who were his 
predecessors, or who succeeded him, are questions 
we are not permitted to resolve. And even the si- 
lence of the scriptures are expressive : " For he was 
made like unto the Son of God," both in what Moses 
relates concerning him, and in w^hat he conceals from 
the curious inquirer. Let us carefully observe these 



^6 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

two heads of resemblance, and we shall easily un- 
derstand how David in spirit says of the Messiah, 
** Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Mel- 
chizedec." — Ps. ex. 4. 

We shall first begin with what Moses relates of 
this extraordinary man, — To whom can his name 
Melchizedec so properly belong as to the King that 
reigns in righteousness ; who, righteous himself, has 
wrought for all his subjects a justifying righteousness 
by the merit of his blood, and works in all his sub- 
jects a sanctifying righteousness by the power of his 
Spirit ] — He, he is the King of Salem, which is by 
interpretation. King of peace. Peace is the disposi- 
tion for which he was renowned, who with his dying 
breath implored forgiveness to his bloody murderers : 
peace is the grand blessing he died to purchase, and 
lives to confer. O glorious peace, of which righteous- 
ness is the foundation, and joy in the Holy Ghost the 
inseparable attendant ! Hail ye subjects of his aus- 
picious government, who call the blessings of his 
purchase all your own ! Lo, in your princely Saviour, 
the great Jehovah, lays aside his vindictive wrath, 
and becomes your loving Father ; the angels no 
more stand aloof, but commence your ministers and 
guardians ; the inferior creatures are turned into 
your faithful friends and allies ; the Jews and G-en- 
tiles forgetting their former enmity, join in the most 
cordial friendship ; and conscience, no more an ac- 
cuser, whispers peace in gentlest accents. — Though 
** in the world you should have tribulation, yet in 
him you shall have peace." O Prince of peace, ex- 
tend the borders of thy peaceful kingdom far and 
wide, and let the washed period, come when the na- 
tions shall learn war no more ! O let thy peace rule 
in our hearts, through these tumultuous scenes of 
life ; and bring us at last to these calm regions of 
joy and felicity, where peace extends her dove like 
wings for ever and ever! — " He brought forth bread 



THE HISTORY OF MELCHIZEDEC. 27 

and wine/' to refresh the hungry and thirsty sol- 
diers, when returning from the slaughter of the 
kings. Such is the refreshment which the true Mel- 
chizedec affords, and will afford to all that are truly 
engaged in the spiritual warfare. . He " has prepared 
of his goodness for the poor. O come unto him, and 
you shall never hunger : believe on him, and you 
shall never thirst. Eat of this bread, and drink of the 
wine which he has mingled." Happy they who shall 
conquer in the holy warfare, for they " shall eat of 
the hidden manna, and the lamb in the midst of the 
throne shall feed them. And he was priest of the 
Most High God.'' An honor not usually appro- 
priated lo those that sit on thrones : for God him- 
self was pleased to provide against the blending of 
these offices in the commonwealth of Israel. Wit- 
ness thy fate, Uzziah, — 2 Chron. xxvi. 18, who, 
snatching at the censer, lost the sceptre. And shall 
the triple-crowned priest of Rome, who exalts him- 
self above all that is called God, go always unpun- 
ished ] But of Jesus Christ, a prophet testifies, " He 
shall sit and rule upon his throne ; and he shall be 
a priest upon his throne," — Zech. vi. 13, as once he 
was a king upon his cross. *'And he blessed Abram." 
So Christ, our royal Priest, was sent of God to bless 
the children of Abram, not with a verbal but real 
benediction, in turning every one of us from our ini- 
quity : and men shall be blessed in him. Consider, 
in the last place, how great this man was, to whom 
even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the 
spoils ; and as we may say, even Levi, who received 
tithes from the people by the commandment of God, 
was tithed in the loins of his progenitor. A most con- 
vincing proof, that this Melchizedec was both a 
greater man than Abram, and a greater priest than 
Aaron. But we Christians have a great High-Priest, 
in whose presence Abram must not glory, Levi has 
no pre-eminence. To our Melchizedec, the royal 



28 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

priesthood, the holy nation, the pecuhar people, do 
pay, not only tithes but all they have and are, when 
they present their bodies a living sacrifice, holy and 
acceptable unto God, vs^hich is their reasonable ser- 
vice.— Rom. xii. 1. 

But the circumstances which Moses conceals, are 
no less worthy of our notice than those he reveals. 
In vain you ask his genealogy, his birth, his death, or 
the ceremonies of his consecration : for those are 
buried in darkness; the Holy Grhost intending to 
signify, that Jesus Christ is really and truly what 
this mysterious king is in the history. Without Fa- 
ther, — not as he was God, but man. — Without 
mother, — not as he was man, but God. — Without 
descent, — for having no predecessors in office, he 
needed not to prove, that he was sprung from the 
priestly tribe ; which was an essential qualification 
in the Levitical priesthood. — Having neither begin- 
ning of days, nor end of life, — for being set up from 
everlasting, he abideth a priest continually ; for 
though he -died, yet even in death he was a priest, 
and now he ever liveth to make intercession for 
them. — What shall we say more 1 In the order of 
Aaron were many priests, who, like other mortals, 
resigned their breath by the stroke of death, their 
priestly honor was laid in the dust with them. We 
know from whence they arose, with what carnal or- 
dinances and ceremonies they receive their inaugu- 
ration, what sacrifices they offered, in what holy 
places they officiated, who assisted them in their 
various functions, and who succeeded them when 
they either died, or were deposed from their office. 
But the priest after the order of Melchizedec, be- 
ing possessed of immortal life, and called of God 
without external ceremonies to his high office, him- 
self was the sacrifice, himself was the altar, himself 
was his tabernacle and temple, assisted by none, nor 
succeeded by anv. In Melchizedec, whom Moses 



THE HISTORY OF ISAAC. 29 

speaks of as though he had been immortal, we have 
but indeed a faint shadow, and not the very image 
of the things themselves, that are found in Jesus 
Christ. But let the faintness of the resemblance re- 
mind us of the greatness of the mysteries. *^ For who 
shall declare his generation ? ' V 



IV. THE HISTORY OF ISAAC. 

Next we shall glance at a very extraordinary 
piece of history, of the most difficult commandment 
that was ever given to any of the human race ; yet 
was it punctually obeyed, and the obediance amply 
rewarded. It is the story of Abraham's offering up 
his son Isaac at the commandment of the Lord. — 
See Gen. xxii. The famous patriarch had endured 
many trials, and proved the sincerity of his faith by 
along course of obedience, and steadfast dependance 
on the divine veracity, from the time he was called 
to leave his native Ur in the land of Chaldea. Long 
did he count him faithful who had promised, that he 
should have a son, in whom all nations should be 
blessed, even when the accomplishment of the pro- 
mise seemed next to impossible. At last the expec- 
ted child is born, a son of his old age ; he flourishes 
apace, and is now flushed with the radiant bloom of 
youth, both loved and beloved. The joyful father 
might now think, that the most troublesome scenes 
of life were happily finished, and that it remained 
for him only to die in faith and peace. But how 
gi'eatly would he be mistaken. The sorest, the 
sharpest trial yet remained : " For it came to pass 
after these things, that Grod did tempt Ai3raham. — 
And he said. Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, 
whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Mo- 
riah, and ofler him there for a burnt-offering, upon 

3 



30 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

one of the mountains which I shall tell thee of 
Shocking precept ! mysterious mandate ! Did ever 
such a message from God wound a parent's ear ! 
Had the voice from heaven denounced, that Isaac 
was to die a natural death, and to be snatched away 
by a sudden stroke, the tidings had been mournful 
and agonizing. But how much more when it is de- 
clared, that the hand of violence must be lifted 
against him, that he must be offered up for a burnt- 
oifering, butchered, mangled, and reduced to ashes ! 
But the crowning circumstance that sets forward the 
calamity, and renders it worse than a thousand 
deaths, the father must be the priest to bind, to 
kill, to cut, to bum his beloved son. Abraham^ 
what were the thoughts of thy heart when your ears 
first heard such dreadful orders ? you were accus- 
tomed to hear the voice of God speaking in more 
soothing accents. Hadst thou not been an extraor- 
dinary believer into what a tempest had all thy soul 
been tossed ] How might reason, natural affection, 
and religion, have all conspired to persuade thy diso- 
bedience] Offer up thy son thine only son Isaac, 
for a burnt offering ! Can this be the voice of God ] 
Sure it must be the voice of some wicked spirit, that 
would impose upon my credulity, and urge a father 
to imbrue his hands in filial blood. But stay : the 
revelation is unquestionable. It was the very voice 
of God. I am not permitted so much as to doubt of 
this. Surely then it must have some other meaning 
than I first thought. Surely the merciful God can- 
not mean that I should really kill my Isaac. Take 
now thy son, thine only son, and offer him up for a 
burnt-offering. Alas ! my Isaac, was it for this I re- 
ceived thee by special promise ] Was it for this thy 
mother brought thee forth, when she was past her 
age, I and called thee by a name expressive of joy 
and laughter ? How ill dost thou now answer thy 
name ! Thou art not a son of laughter, but of sorrow. 



THE HISTORY OF ISAAC. 31 

O God, why couldst thou not rather have demanded 
all my numerous flocks and kids, to smoke in one 
great burnt-offering ] Or if a human sacrifice de- 
lighted thee more, why should my Isaac, rather than 
. any other, be the victim 1 O that I could redeem his 
life with my own blood ] 

" And must I too be the priest ? Must he bleed by 
a father's hand ] Ah ! what will the world say 1 
They will never believe me, when I tell them it was 
by thy order I did it. — What will Sarah say ] But 
chiefly, what will become of my own promise ! How 
will he be the father of many nations when he is no 
more ] O ye nations ! I thought that in this my 
Isaac you would all be blessed ; but now farewell for 
ever all such pleasing hopes. Isaac must die, and 
the promise fail for evermore ! " 

But so strong was the faith of this eminent believ- 
er, that either such misgiving thoughts were alto- 
gether strangers to his mind, or they were soon re- 
pelled. He wisely considered, that what God had 
commanded could not be wrong, and what he had 
promised could not be false. " Be hushed all unbe- 
lieving fears : for he who gave an Isaac from the bar- 
ren womb to fulfil his promise, can, if he please, for 
the same reason restore him from the burning altar. 
Come then, without delay obey the high command, 
believing that what he has promised, he is able also 
to perfoiTQ." 

No sooner had the early dawn begun to appear in 
the eastern sky, than the resolved patriarch springs 
from his couch, saddles an ass, takes with him the 
intended victim and servants, as much wood as he 
thought necessary, and proper utensils, for the fu- 
ture sacrifice. Three days they travelled on this 
strange journey, and all that space he looked on his 
son as dead, but the steady purpose of his soul was 
not shaken. On the third day the fatal hills of Mo- 
riah are descried at a distance, the servants are left 



32 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

behind, the wood is laid on Isaac, and Abram carries 
the fire and the knife. — And now, after some en- 
dearing conversation, they are arrived at the ap- 
pointed place. The altar is built, the wood is laid in 
order, the plot is doubtless revealed to Isaac by his 
sedate father ; and Isaac, though fully able to have 
made resistance, or delivered himself by flight, is not 
recorded to have attempted the one or the other ; for 
the same Almighty power that touched the patri- 
arch's heart, and made hiin willing to give the deadly 
stab, did also, beyond all doubt, make Isaac no less 
willing, cheerfully to receive it. He is bound like an- 
other victim, he is laid upon the altar, and the hand 
now grasps the fatal knife to be lodged in his guilt- 
less breast ; when lo, a heavenly voice forbids the 
bloody deed, and the patriarch's willing mind is ac- 
cepted for the actual sacrifice. His fear of God is 
highly applauded, and by his works his faith was 
proved to be perfect. " Abram, you spared not your 
son for the sake of my command, but I spare him 
for the sake of thy obedience. Receive hiin again 
with my blessing. He shall be the progenitor of the 
Messiah, and all the nations shall be blessed in him." 
A ram caught by the horns in the thicket supplies 
the room of Isaac, and the grateful patriarch acknow- 
ledges the happy providence, in calling the name of 
the place Jehovah- Jireh. And afterwards it became 
a common proverb, " In the mount the Lord shall 
be seen." 

O the inconceivable power of faith, that can ren- 
der the most difiicult duties so easy ! Nor is there a 
better way for the children of Abraham to insure 
their dearest enjoyments, and improve them to the 
highest advantage, than by resigning them, totally 
resigning them to the sovereign will of God. But 
surely a higher mystery was contained in this extra- 
ordinary occurrence. Who can forbear here to think 
of the adorable mystery of redemption by Jesus 



THE HISTORY OF ISAAC. 33 

Christ ? — " For God, who so loved the world, as not 
to spare his own Son, but delivered him unto the 
death for us all." Methinks the language of this 
whole transaction was as if God had said, *' Ye chil- 
dren of men, hear you what my faithful servant and 
friend has done upon this mountain, in cheerfully 
sacrificing his only son to testi% his love to God. By 
the same method I will declftre my love to a perish- 
ing world, by giving my only begotten Son to fall a 
sacrifice for sin. In this mountain shall the sword 
of justice awake against him by his own consent • 
and what has now been done only in a figure, shall 
be really transacted at the appointed time. Mean- 
while let rams, and other beasts, be sacrificed as a 
memorial of this grand burnt-offering; but let no 
human blood smoke on my altars." 

But more particularly to enumerate the important 
predictions of this prophetical history. It contain- 
ed, first of all, a lively intimation, that in the fulness 
of time a human sacrifice should be offered up. In- 
deed it is but just and equal that the nature that sin- 
ned should suffer : for how can the blood of harmless 
beasts atone for the sins of guilty men ] And this 
might seem to have been confessed by the honible 
custom that obtained in the Gentile world, of sacri- 
ficing men to appease the wrath of their deities. But 
the living and true God discharged such direful of^ 
ferings under the severest penalties, not only for 
their evident barbarity, but because they encroached 
upon the plan of his infinite wisdom, and anticipated 
the great propitiation, who was to be a human sa- 
crifice, although he was no ordinary person, as Isaac 
was not an ordinary son. Like Isaac he was a Son 
and heir, the Son of God, and the heir of all things. 
— A beloved Son : for he was daily his delight, be- 
fore the mountains were brought forth ; and oftener 
than once it was declared by a voice from the ex- 
cellent glory, *< This is my beloved Son, in whom I 



34 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

am well pleased/' — An only son ; for angels and 
.^ saints, though styled the sons of God, have no claim 
to such a sonship as the filial Godhead is possessed 
of. Isaac, thy birth was altogether extraordinary, 
both by the father's and mother's side, surpassing 
the ordinaiy course of nature ; but still more amaz- 
ing is the generation ^f our atoning sacrifice, whose 
Father as God was tl*e all glorious Jehovah, and 
whose mother was a virgin. The event of his birth, 
like Isaac's, was long foretold, and ardently expected 
before it happened; but though long delayed, the 
promise wels punctually fulfilled at the appointed 
time. His name imported joy and gladness. In Jesus, 
the true Isaac, our mouths shall be filled with laugh- 
ter, and our tongues ^\'ith melody. 

Ask you the manner of his death ] Behold it in 
this lively type. For as Isaac earned the wood, so 
the beloved Son of God carried his Cross. O ye 
children of men, your iniquities were the heavy load 
he bore in his own body on the tree. These, like the 
wood that was intended to reduce Isaac to ashes, 
rendered him combustible to the fire of divine 
wrath. 

It was for no crime that Isaac was to suffer death 
in this tragical manheF; yet such was his filial piety^ 
such was his reverence of the high command, that 
he made no attempt to save his life, though he was 
able to have done it, being anived at his youthful 
prime. Even so the innocent Redeemer, in whom 
was found no cause of death, no not by his very 
judge, he abhoiTed not the ignominious cross, he 
spared to employ all the legions of angels that were 
ready at his beck ; he never attempted to make his 
escape when^his time was come, which he had often 
done before. Thouoh he had thorougrhlv dis^ested 
in his mind the doleful circumstances of his cruci- 
fixion, he betrayed not the least unwillingness to sub- 
mit to his heavenly Father's will, even when his hu- 



THE HISTORY OF ISAAC. 35 

man heart shrinked at the bitter cup. " I lay down," 
says he, " my life, no man taketh it from me. This 
commandment have I received from my Father. 
Father, not my vidll, but thine be done." 

It v^as by his father's hand alone that Isaac was 
to breathe out his soul by a mortal wound, and by 
him alone was the funeral pile to be lighted up. For 
these purposes, we are informed in the sacred his- 
tory, he carried the fire and the knife. It was not 
the envy of the Jews, it was not the covetousness of 
Judas, it was not the irresolution of the cowardly 
Roman Judge, that chiefly consigned our Isaac over 
to the tormenting cross ; but being delivered by the 
determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, these 
only proved the sinful executioners of the high de* 
cree. Thy burning anger against the sins of men, 
O heavenly Father, was the fire that preyed upon his 
holy soul. Thy justice, inflexibly severe, was the 
keen flashing sword which awaked against him and 
drank his vital blood. " It pleased the Father to 
bruise him ; thou didst put him to grief." And ti'uly 
the sufferings of our dying Redeemer were many 
of them of such a nature as none but Grod could 
inflict, even as nona but God could have endured 
them. 

Beyond all peradventure, the scene w^here these 
things were transacted by Abraham, being in the 
land of Moriah, could not be far distant from the 
horrid eminence of Calvary, or the lovely heights of 
Zion. It is a circumstance by no means unworthy 
o£ our careful attention, that the true propitiation 
wasofiered up nearly in the same place where the 
beloved son of Abraham was to expire upon the 
altar. Ye mountains of Moriah, your name may 
now be Jehovah-Jireh for the better reason than 
when the ram was caught by Abraham in the thicket 
which he offered for his Isaac ; for God has now 
provided himself 'a Lamb, and in these mountains 



36 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

the Lord was seen putting away sin by the sacrifice 
of himself. 

It was not possible for a mortal creature to give a 
higher document of love to God, than by sacrificing 
for his sake a dearly beloved and only son. The 
whole history is so amazing, that we know not 
whether we should most admire the strange com- 
mandment or the unparalleled obedience. Even so 
it was not possible for the immortal God to give a 
nobler demonstration of love to men, than by deli- 
vering for their sake his only begotten Son to die for 
their oflfences : the whole transaction, from first to 
last, is of such uncommon nature, and so foreign to 
every human plan for acceptance w^ith God, that to 
the wise Greeks it was mere foolishness, and to the 
Jews a stumbling-block. As Abraham could not 
without faith have acquiesced in the precept, no 
more can we without faith acquiesce in the Gospel- 
plan. — He consulted not with Sarah, when he was 
called to obey ; and when we are called to believe, 
we must not consult with vain philosophy. Though 
in the mystery of redemption there is a depth of wis- 
dom, thy line, O reason, is too short to sound its bot- 
tom. Reason, especially in its depraved state, may 
not unfitly be compared to the patriarch's ass, which 
staid at the foot of the hill, but ascended not with 
Isaac to the sacrifice. It is the province of faith 
alone to ascend this hill of the Lord, and compre- 
hend the love of God which passeth knowledge. 

Isaac, it is true, was not sacrificed, and there was 
no need that God should raise him from the dead, as 
the patriarch perhaps expected. But as he was in a 
manner a dead man during all the three days that 
intervened betwixt the sentence being passed against 
him, and the reversing of it by the heavenly voice, 
it may be truly said, that " in a figure he was re- 
ceived from the dead.'' Exactly so, our true Isaac 
was received on the third day from the dead, not in 



THE HiSTORY OF ISAAC. 37 

a figure only. Like Isaac, he felt no harm; but **0 
death, he was thy plague, O grave he was thy de- 
struction." Like Isaac, he returned to his Father's 
house from whence he came, and became a Father 
of many nations, who are begotten again to a lively 
hope by his resurrection from the dead ; for thus the 
prophet Isaiah — Isa. liii. lO.foretels, with admirable 
plainness and propriety, " When thou, O heavenly 
Father, shalt make his soul an offering for his sin, he 
shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the 
pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand." 

Forbear, ye children of men, anxiously to inquire, 
" Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and how 
shall I bow myself before the high God ] Shall I 
give my first born for my transgression, and the fruit 
of my body for the sin of my soul"? For lo, he has 
given his first born to atone for your transgression, 
and the Son of his love to expiate the sin of your 
souls by the sacrifice of himself Thus hath he 
showed you what is good; and what doth the Lord 
require of thee, but to do justly, love mercy, and 
walk humbly with thy God V 



V. THE HISTORY OF JACOB. 

The history of Jacob's life is also stored with 
very remarkable incidents, not unlike those which 
befel our Lord Jesus Christ, or which have befallen 
the Church which is his body, and his other self, in 
all ages of the world. The truth of this will easily 
appear in the following parallel : 

1. The patriarch Jacob was 1. The Lord Jesus Christ, 

chosen of God who loved him being from everlasting- the 

before he was born, to be the peculiar object of the Father's 

progenitor of the .Tewish na- love, was chosen by him before 

tion, who alRO was rhose.n in the motintains were brought 
3* 



w 



TYPICAL f ERSONS- 



h\m, ralhe? than the posterity 
of Esau, called in the style of 
the prophet, *'the border of 
wickedness, and the people 
against whom the Lord hath 
ind-ignation for ever.'* 2. 
From this patriarch the Jews, 
the peculiar people of God, are 
named Israelites. 3. From 
tiim sprung- the twelve patri- 
archs, who were the fathers of 
that holy nation according to 
the flesh. 4. Many and great 
were the hardships which this 
patriarch conflicted with dur- 
ing the course of his pilgri- 
inage ; for it appears that he 
was the most afSicted of all 
his race, both on account of 
^he treatment he met with 
from Esau, from Laban, and 
from God himself. 5. Very 
early he began to struggle 
with his rough brother Esau, 
who carried his enmity to 
Buch a pitch, as to resolve to 
murder him, tor no other 
fault than excluding him from 
the privilege of birth-right, 
which himself had justly for- 
feited, by selling it for a mor- 
sel of meat ; and therefore 
when he would afterwards 
have inherited the blessing, 
he could not by all his tears 
induce his father to bestow 
it upon him. 6. In vain shall 
you think, O profane Esau, to 
thwart the unalterable decree ; 
for the elder shall serve the 
younger, and the posterity of 
Jacob shall put garrisons in 
thy strong hold. 7. With his 
etaf he passed cr^'er Jordan, 
m ^ilft fora hi% father'^. 



forth, 10 be the Father q( 

the nations of them who ^r^ 
saved ; who are also chosen in 
him, that they should be holy, 
and distinguished from the 
world that lies in wickednesg. 
2. From Jesus Christ the cho- 
sen generation are named 
Christians. 3. And the twelvg 
apostles of the Lamb, are tha 
fathers of the holy nation ac- 
cording to the spirit. 4. B^ 
hold and see, was ever any 
sorrow like unto his ? for hi% 
whole life was a continual war 
with wo. He was afflicted 
by the world, harrassed by the 
devil, and persecuted even by 
God himself. 5. Early, very 
early he felt the effects pf th^ 
world's undeserved malice. 
And his rough brethren the 
Jews were so highly incensed 
against him as to imbrue their 
hands in his blood. Atld 
wherefore did ye thus hatQ 
him, O ye malicious Jews? 
It was because you gloried in 
your birth-right, and could not 
endure that the kingdom of 
God should, according to his 
doctrine be taken from you 
ai]d transferred to the despised 
Gentiles, though you had just- 
ly forfeited all title to such a 
glorious prerogative, by your 
great contempt of spiritual 
and heavenly blessings. 6. 
But be of good cheer, ye chil- 
dren of Jesus Christ, our Lord 
and Master has overcome the 
world. And the time shall 
come, when the saints of the 
Most High shall take the 
"kingdom; and it s-hall be said, 



THE HISTORY OF JACOB. 



39 



house; he served for a wife, 
and returned with much sub- 
stance, having multiplied into 
two bands. 8. He spoiled 
Laban of his substance and 
idols. But when he followed 
after him, to rummage Jacob's 
tents, he found nothing that 
belonged to him. And when 
he departed from Jacob, the 
angels of God met him, and he 
called the place Mahaniam. 
But the conflict which Jacob 
had with God was by far the 
most mysterious affliction. 
Never was the patriarch in 
greater distress. Retired from 
his family, and all alone, ex- 
cepting his brother Esau to 
come upon him with four hun- 
dred armed men, he pours out 
his prayer to God; and there 
wrestled a man with him till 
the breaking of the day, to 
whom he wept and made sup- 
plication. But at last he is 
victorious, his life is pre- 
served, and he obtains the 
blessinff. 



Who is this that cometh from 
Edom, with dyed garments 
from Eozrah? 7. With the 
staff of his cross he passed 
over ihe Jordan of death ; and 
wandering in exile from hea- 
ven, his father's house, he took 
on him the form of a servant, 
(snch was his love to the 
Church;) and afterwards he 
was followed by the two bands 
of Jews and Gentiles. 3. The 
devil suspecting that this was 
the strong man who was to 
spoil his goods, and utterly 
abolish the idols, he fiercely 
assaulted him ; but when the 
prince of this world came un- 
to him in the day of his temp- 
tation, he found nothing in 
hi r ; and when he left our 
Saviour the angels came and 
administered unto him. But 
the conflict which our Lord 
had with the wrath of God, 
was the greatest of all his 
afflictions. It was the lively 
feeling of almighty anger that 
made him sweat blood ; and 
when retired from his disci- 
ples, and expecting the mul- 
titude to come upon him with 
swords and staves, he offered 
up prayers and supplications 
with strong cries and tears, 
to him that was able to save 
him from death. But at last 
he prevails to obtain the 
blessing, having endured the 
wrath of God. 



And as Jacob was obliged to go down to Egypt in 
his old age, to preserve bi|^ life from cruel famine ; 
so Christ Jesus fled into Egypt when he was a child, 



40 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

to preserve his life from a bloody tyrant. Afterwards 
was the saying of the prophet fulfilled. ** Out of 
Egypt have I called my Son." And, lastly, as Jacob 
left the world blessing his sons ; so Christ left the 
world blessing his apostles. 

But he was also a type of the mystical body of 
Christ, and indeed of every saint — whether you view 
him as chosen in the womb — striving at his birth — 
buying the birth-right — meeting the angels of God — 
wrestling wdth the angel of the covenant — or buried 
in Canaan after a troublesome life. Behold in all these 
an emblem of every one who is an Israelite indeed. 

His election in the womb signifies how all the seed 
of Jacob are chosen to salvation. *' Was not Esau 
Jacob's brother," his elder brother and indeed a 
stronger child ? for his hairy skin portended the 
vigour of his constitution. Yet was he not chosen 
to inherit the patriarchal blessing. The happy per- 
sons whom he chooses to inherit the blessings of 
eternity, are so far from being better than other of 
their fellow-creatures, that, for the most part, they 
are greatly inferior, both in the endowments of the 
mind, and outward worldly distinctions. " Even so, 
Father, for so it seemth good in thy sight !" 

His struggling at his birth, when he took hold of 
his brother's heel, might be intended to signify, that 
every true Israelite must strive before become to the 
possession of those blessings that are designed for 
him in the purpose of God. Electing love indeed 
prevents, but not excludes our fighting the good fight 
of faith, and laying hold of eternal life. Miserably 
shall they be disappointed, who dream of seizing the 
kingdom of heaven without violence. When the hus- 
bandman can reasonably hope that indolence will fill 
his barns with plenty, w]^|ri the soldier can think that 
victory will present him with her palms without strik- 
ing a blow, then may the yawning Christian, whom 
it Qfrieves to work out his own salvation with fear and 



THE HISTORY OF JACOB. 41 

ti'embling, expect to reap fruit unto life eternal, and 
tread upon the high places of his spiritual foes. 

His buying his birth-right for pottage, ludicrous as 
it seems, perhaps may denote the high esteem which 
all the true seed of Jacob have of spiritual blessings. 
O wretched exchanoe ! to barter for the satisfaction 
of a moment, what was more valuable than an hun- 
dred lives ! Profane Esau, was it nothing valuable 
to inherit the blessing of Abraham, to be the proge- 
nitor of the Messiah, and to entail on thy posterity 
the true knowledge of God ] All this was under- 
valued when the birth-right was despised. Ye 
Esaus of the world, take to yourselves your present 
sensual gratifications, and esteem nothing good but 
present satisfaction, fill your bellies with the hidden 
treasure of God, and for the short-lived pleasures of 
sin renounce your part in heavenly felicities, and 
bury, without one sigh, each glorious hope. But let 
the house of Israel labour for the meat that endures 
to everlasting life ; let them implore the cheerful 
light of God's countenance ; let them enjoy the 
vision of his face in righteousness ; and when in 
spired with these blissful expectations, all sublunary 
joys shall in comparison be no more regarded, than 
was thy pottage, Jocob, in comparison of the birth- 
right. 

His receiving the blessing from his father in the 
garments of Esau, which his mother arrayed him 
with, may be viewed as a faint shadov/ of our re- 
ceiving the blessing from God in the garments of 
Jesus Christ, which all the children of the promise do 
wear. When found in Christ, and clothed with the 
perfuming robes of righteousness imputed, the gar- 
ments of our elder brother, our gracious God and 
Father will forget our sinful imperfections, and be- 
holding no iniquity in Jacob, nor perverseness in Is- 
rael, will bless us with all spiritual blessings in Christ 
Jesus. It was not the feigned venison, but the bor- 



42 TYPICAL PERSONS, 

rowed garments, that procured the blessing. Even so 
we are not blessed by God for our good works, how- 
ever pleasing unto him, but for the righteousness of 
our Redeemer ; for should we presume to appear in 
the presence of Jehovah, without this most necessary 
precaution of putting on the Lord Jesus Christ, our 
performances however specious, could meet with no 
acceptance, but the evil which Jacob greatly feared 
would come upon us ; we would procure to ourselves 
a curse and not a blessing. 

His meeting the angels, after his interview with 
Laban, when he called the name of the place Maha- 
naim, was not only designed to animate his courage 
amidst the dangers that surrounded him in that jour- 
ney ; but also to hint unto us what is the distinguished 
privilege of all the children of Jacob in their militant 
state : for ** the angel of the Lord encamps round 
about them that fear him.'' The despiser of his 
birth-right, whose resentment Jacob dreaded, comes 
indeed escorted by four hundred men. But what 
were these to Jacob's invisible guard ? This honor 
have all his saints, who come to the innumerable 
company of angels, the ministrant spirits of the heirs 
of salvation, and the bright guardians of the just. 

His wrestling with the angel (who doubtless was 
the Captain of the host that appeared to him in the 
likeness of a man, a prelude of his future incarnation, 
over whom he obtained the victory, and from whom 
he received the blessing,'when he wept and made 
supplication,) may be considered as a figure of that 
great fight of affliction which the beloved of the 
Lord may lay their account with in the night of this 
world. Even the Lord himself may seem to stand 
against them with his right hand as an adversary. 
But as the mighty wrestler with Jacob assumed no 
greater strength than might be overcome ; so God, 
that is faithful, will proportion the trials of his peo- 
ple to the strength he has given them. And by 



THE HISTORY OF JACOB. 43 

their strength (which yet is not their own) they shall 
pi'evail ; for he that is in appearance against, is really 
for them, and stronger for them than against them.— 
If he casts down, it is but with his left, but he up- 
holds them with his right hand. Mysterious, but 
comforting truth ! hard to express, but sweet to 
know. Never was Jacob more happy than when 
he seemed most miserable, nor more strong than 
when he seemed most weak : for at once he was 
lamed and blessed, conquered and victorious. A 
lively emblem this of what usually befalls the rem- 
nant of Jacob ; for " happy is the man whom God 
con-ecteth." The love of the Lord towards the 
children of Israel is written in the most rigorous 
dispensations ; when they are weak, then are they 
strong ; and what he takes away from them in one 
way, he restores to advantage in an other. O happy 
they who think it no solitude to be alone with God ! 
Glorious things are spoken of thee, O duty of prayer ! 
He who can prevail with God, needs not fear that 
man should prevail against him. 

His burial in Caanan, the land of promise, after a 
life of singular affliction, may represent the distin- 
guished lot of all the faithful, chosen and called, 
who, after a short course of pilgrimage, harrassed, 
with anxious cares and sorrows, do rest in the pro- 
mised land of the heavenly Canaan. And tmily, the 
beloved Jacob had shared no happiness to be com- 
pared with hated Esau's ^f in this life only he had 
hope. Who would not rather judge, that Esau was 
beloved of God, and Jacob hated, if love or hatred 
CQuld certainly be known by that which happens 
under the siin 1 And where the christian to bound 
his views by the grave, should his hopes terminata 
in death, ah ! then, he were the most wretclied of 
his race, and a^t hm beat estate he were altogether 



44 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

O eternal joys above, O glorious rewards, reserved 
in heaven for those who seek for glory, honor, and 
blissful immortality, by patient continuance, in well 
doing ; without you, even pure and undefiled religion 
could scarce compensate the afflictions of this pre- 
sent life, to which we are exposed as men and chris- 
tians. But these assert the glorious prerogative of re- 
ligion, and the superior happiness of saints. Though 
the days of their pilgrimage, like Jacob's, be few and 
evil, yet still they are a people saved by the Lord, 
who has blessed them, and they shall be blessed. 



VI. THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH. 

The history of Joseph's life is doubtless one of the 
most entertaining and eventful which all antiquity 
can boast of. Upon it are inscribed in most lively 
characters, at once the terrible effects of malice and 
envy, and the watchful care of Providence over the 
cause of injured virtue and innocence. But the most 
remarkable thing that claims our attention here, is 
the surprising likeness betwixt the whole narrative 
and the history of Jesus Christ, of whom it may truly 
be said, "The archers have sorely grieved him, but 
his bow abode in his strength, and the arms of his 
hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty 
God of Jacob.'' • 

He was the beloved son of his father Jacob : and 
truly he seems to have been worthy of his paternal 
favor ; for, detesting the wickedness of his brethren 
he reported their faults. This, with his prophetic 
dreams which he told them of, so stung them with 
envy and resentment, that they could not speak 
peaceably to him, nor look at him, but with disgust 
and aversion. Their causeless anger is turned into 
obdurate hatred of their brother, and soon they find 



THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH. 45 

an opportunity of wi'eaking their bloody rage. He 
is sent by his father to inquire of their welfare when 
feeding their flocks in the wilderness ; and dreading 
no harm as he was innocent, and stranger to offence, 
he carefully inquires after them, till at last he finds 
them out. But ah ! "he looked for brethren, and be- 
holds murderers ] Wrath is cruel and anger is out- 
rageous ; but who can stand before baleful envy!" 
Transported with this blind fury, they forget at once 
that they were brethren, children, and men, and 
take honid council. against the darling youth, to im- 
brue their hands in his guiltless blood. One more 
merciful than the rest moves, that they cast him into 
a pit, rather than murder him outright ; for he in- 
tended by this artifice at once to indulge their fury 
and to elude it, by finding means to restore him 
again to his father. The motion takes. They strip 
him of his garment of many colours, and regardless 
of the anguish of his soul, they let him down into the 
pit ; but themselves, O cruel monsters ! " sat down 
to eat and drink, for they were not grieved for the 
affliction of Joseph.'' Here they designed to leave 
him perish miserably in mournful solicitude, but Pro- 
vidence I'eserved him to better things : for lifting up 
their eyes, they see approaching a company of mer- 
chants, who were of Ishmael's race, and carried balm 
and myrrh from mount Grilead into Egypt : and 
Egypt's future lord is sold unto the merchants for 
twenty pieces of silver, by his savage brethren, who 
dipt his garment in blood, to show it their father, and 
cloak their matchless villany, . by pretending that 
some wild beast had devoured him. Such were once 
the men, O ye Jews, in whom ye glory as your pro- 
genitors ! The innocent sufferer is sold a second time 
to Potiphar in Egypt, in whose service he acquitted 
himself so well, as to gain the good graces of his mas- 
ter, who reposed in him the most entire confidence, 
and entrusted him with the sole management of his 



46 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

ajffairs. But soon, alas ! the temptations of his mistress 
are Hkely to prove no less dangerous than the malice 
of his brethren. He preserved indeed his chastity by 
the fear of the Lord; but incurring the undesei*ved 
suspicion of a base crime, he is committed to the dun- 
geon by his too partial master, as before he had been 
cast into the pit by his cruel brethren. But " the 
king sent and loosed him, and the ruler of the people 
set him free." For as he exposed himself to all his 
troublesome adventures, by telling his own dreams ; 
so by his interpreting the dreams of others, he laid 
the foundation of his subsequent grandeur. On a sud- 
den his prison is turned a palace, his irons a chain 
of gold, Potiphar's servant is become Potiphar's lord. 
He "whose feet were hurt with fetters, now binds 
the princes at pleasure, and teaches the senators 
wisdom." And as he moves along the crowded 
streets, a herald proclaims before him, " Bow the 
knee." And now he feeds from his hoarded gi^ana- 
ries the starving nations ; for he wisely provided 
against the approach of the famine he foretold. The 
subjects of Pharaoh acknowledge him the saviour of 
their lives. His unkind brethren, impelled by hunger 
and hard necessity, come also among the supplicants, 
to fulfil his dreams, which they vainly imagined to 
render for ever abortive. He remembered the traces 
of their countenances, and by various harsh methods 
he explores the sincerity of their repentance, and 
acquaints himself with the circumstances of their fa- 
mily. At last his bowels yearning towards them, and 
piteous of their misery, as being sufficiently- chastised, 
he makes himself known to them, buries in oblivion 
their past misdemeanors, and transports them to 
dwell with him, where he nourishes them like a fa- 
ther in the midst of a terrible and extensive famine. 
And thus, what was intended by the wickedness of 
men as means of extirpating the name of Joseph out 
of the earth, was over-ruled by the wisdom of God, 



THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH. 47 

for bringing about his glorious exaltation, for saving 
the lives of much people, and even the lives of those 
w^ho sought his death. 

Which things are an allegory. For Jesus Christ is 
the true Joseph, if you view him as a beloved Son, 
an affectionate brother, a trusty sei-vant, an illumi- 
nated prophet, a resister of temptations, a forgiver 
of injuries, but chiefly if you consider him as an in- 
nocent sufferer, an exalted prince, and an universal 
Saviour. 

Like Joseph, he was a beloved Son, whom God the 
Father had blessed above all his brethren. Jacob 
made for Joseph a garment of divers colors, and 
God prepared for Christ a body curiously wrought 
in the lower parts of the earth. Like Joseph he is 
an affectionate brother. He came to seek his bre- 
thren in the wilderness of this world, though they re- 
ceived him not. He knows them when they know 
not him, and his bowels yearn towards them, even 
when he seems severe. He may deal roughly with 
them at m-st, but he will have mercy upon them at 
last. He liberally supplies their wants without mo- 
ney and without price, and at last will bring them to 
dwell with him in the heavenly Canaan, where they 
shall behold his glory, and be abundantly satisfied 
with the fatness of his house. Like Joseph, he was 
a trusty servant, acquitting himself dextrously in 
every part of the work that was given him to do, 
even as the prophet also foretels, " Behold, my ser- 
vant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted, he 
shall be extolled, and be very high." Like Joseph, 
he is a most illuminated prophet, in whom the Spirit 
of God is, — none so discreet and wise as he, — the 
true Zaphnathpaaneah, or revealer of secrets, who is 
worthy to take the sealed book of God's decrees, and 
open its seven seals. Like J oseph he was a resister 
of temptations ; for he was solicited in vain to spiri- 
tual adultery by the great enemy of salvation, when 



48 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

he said unto him, "All these will I give thee, if thou 
wilt fall down and worship me." Though this har- 
lot world hath cast down wounded and slain many 
strong men, our Joseph overcame her ; his heart de- 
clined not to her ways ; he went not astray in her 
paths, though in the encounter he was stripped of his 
mortal life which he willingly resigned. Like Jo- 
seph he was and is aforgiver of injuries : for as on the 
cross he implored forgiveness to his murderers with 
his expiring breath ; so on the throne he gave repen- 
tance unto Israel and remission of sin, many of them 
whose hand had been very deep in that bloody tra- 
gedy of his crucifixion being brought to a sincere 
profession, that, " verily, they were guilty concerning 
their brother,'' and the blood which they impiously 
shed spoke better things than that of Abel. 

But chiefly let us view him as an innocent sufferer, 
whose sufferings issued in glory to himself, and uni- 
versal good to men. Joseph is mortally hated of his 
brethren, and the butt of their envy, because he ex- 
posed their wicked courses, and foretold his own ad- 
vancement. For these same reasons was Jesus 
Christ hated by the Jews, and Pilate knew that for 
envy they delivered him. Joseph was derided of his 
brethren as an idle fantastic dreamer ; and Jesus 
Christ was esteemed a doating enthusiast, a madman, 
and one beside himself. Joseph, his brethren con- 
spired against him to take away his life ; and of Jesus 
Christ it is prophesied, " Why do the heathen rage, 
and the people imagine a vain thing, to plot against 
the Lord, and against his anointed 1 " Joseph's bre- 
thren stripped him of his garments which his father 
made for him ; and of Jesus Christ it is said, " They 
parted my garments among them, and cast lots for 
my vesture." Joseph was cast into a pit, but he re- 
mained not long there : Jesus Christ was laid in the 
grave, but he saw no corruption Joseph was sold 
for a servant by the advice of the patriarch Judah ; 



THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH. 49 

and Jesus Christ was, by the apostle Judas, sold for 
thhty pieces of silver, the price of a slave : A goodly 
price he was prized at by them ! Joseph was unjustly 
accused in Egypt, and cast into a dungeon vdth two 
noted criminals, Pharaoh's butler and baker ; Jesus 
Christ was unjustly condemned in Canaan, and cru- 
cified between two thieves. Joseph adjudged the one 
criminal to death, and the other to life from the 
same omens ; Jesus Christ adjudged one of the 
thieves to everlasting life, while the other was allowed 
to perish after the same deserts. Joseph entreated the 
person, whom he delivered, to remember him when 
he came to his glory : but the preson whom Jesus 
Christ delivered prayed him, *' O Lord, remember 
me w^hen thou coinest into thy kingdom." Joseph 
indeed could but foretel his companion's deliverance ; 
but Jesus Christ effected by his own power what he 
foretold, '' To-day shalt thou be with me in para- 
dise." 

Suchw ere the patriarch's unparalleled afflictions : 
but as he soon emerged from these deep plunges of 
adversity, becoming of a forlorn prisoner a prime 
minister of state ; so Jesus Christ was taken from 
prison and from judgment, and receives from God 
the Father ^' honor and glory, and a name above 
every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee 
should bow, of things in heaven, things in earth, and 
things under the earth, and eveiy tongue confess that 
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of Grod the Father." 
Behold ye mistaken Jews, how vain were all your 
machinations to frustrate his predictions. Even you 
yourselves became subser^^ient to fulfil the grand de- 
sign, w^hen you killed the Prince of life, who was by 
suffering death to enter into his glory. Here the 
patriarch's speech to his penitent brethren may fitly 
be applied, "As for you, ye thought evil against me, 



50 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass as at 
this day, to save mutih people alive." 

For as the sufferings and glory of Joseph issued in 
the common salvation of the lives of Pharaoh's sub- 
jects, and the family of Jacob, w^ho v^as a Syrian 
ready to perish ; even so thy sufferings and thy glory, 
O thou once humbled, but now exalted Redeemer, 
w^ere ordained for the salvation of the w^orld, both 
Jew^s and Gentiles from a far more dreadful destruc- 
tion than a famine of bread or water ! Go unto this 
Joseph for the supply of your numerous vrants, ye 
that are ready to perish. His fulness shall never be 
exhausted, be their number ever so great v^ho receive 
out of it. O that his glory might be the joy of our 
heart, and the grand theme of every tongue. With 
vs^hat cheerfulness ought we to forsake the stuff of all 
teiTestrial things, when .Joseph is alive, that we may 
be with him where he is, and enjoy these blessings 
that are " on the head of Jesus Christ, and on the 
crown of the head of him that was separated from 
his brethren !" 



VI. THE HISTORY OF MOSES. 

Though Christ and Moses may seem indeed, in 
one view as to be as unlike one another as the Gos- 
pel and the law, as the ministration of righteousness 
and the ministration of condemnation; we may, how- 
ever, obsei^ve in the character and history of this ex- 
traordinary man, a great resemblance to that of Jesus 
Christ, whether we consider him as a deliverer, a 
mediator, a lawgiver, or a prophet. 

First, let us view Moses as a deliverer of his nation 
from the bondage of Egypt. To this end he was 
born ; and when his life was sought by a bloody ty- 



THE HISTORY OF MOSES 51 

rant, who murdered his fellow-infants, he was mira- 
culously preserved by his reputed mother who gave 
him a royal education. But when he was come to 
years, and capable of judging for himself, he despised 
the pleasures of a court and chose rather to claim 
kindred with oppressed slaves, because they were 
the people of God, than with the daughter of Pha- 
raoh, by whose right perhaps he might have inhe- 
rited the crown of Egypt. At last, though his veiy 
brethren thrust him' away, saying, ^' Who made thee 
a ruler and a judge ? " he accomplishes their rescue 
from the land of Nile, spoiling the Egyptians of their 
gold and silver, destroying their first bom, and drovni- 
ing in the Red Sea the flower of their army : and all 
this by means of the blood of a lamb which he shed, 
and by his wonder-working rod. Even so the birth 
of the deliverer, who came to Zion to rescue from the 
oppression of far worse enemies than the Egyptians 
or the Romans, was signalized with the cruel butch- 
eiing of the infants in Bethlehem by Herod's minis- 
ters of blood. But the persecuted babe finds a safe 
retreat in Egypt, whither he was conveyed by the 
guardian care of his supposed father. And when he 
was come to years he disdained an earthly crown, 
when the Jews would have taken him by force, and 
made him a king, as before he had in a sort left for 
a time the court of heaven, the bosom of his father, 
and the songs of hymning cherubim, to endure, in 
these regions of mortality, affliction for the people of 
God; for as Moses had a respect to the recompense 
of reward ; so " he, for the joy that was set before 
him, endured the cross, and despised the shame." 
And though " his brethren understood not at first, 
that God by his hand wou.ld deliver them," and re- 
fused him as an impostor, at last he accomplishes 
their redemption from the cruel bondage of the devil, 
whose power he destroyed by shedding his own blood, 
and by sending the rod of his strength out of Zion, 



52 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

By these despised means does the captain of salva- 
tion bring many sons to glory, through raging seas 
of affliction, through waste and howling wildernesses 
of various temptations, till they amve in that happy 
country which God has espied for them, which is 
the glory of all lands. 

As by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of 
Egypt, it is further to be observed, that he acted the 
part of a mediator between God and Israel, both 
when they fought with Amalek, ^vhen they received 
the law and when they made the calf in Horeb : in 
all which instances he may be viewed as a lively type 
of the one mediator between God and man, the man 
Christ Jesus. When the militant church is fighting 
in the valley of this world, as an Amalek shall never 
be wanting from generation to generation, their vic- 
tory depends not so much on their own prowess and 
skill, as on the lifting up the hands of our great In- 
tercessor, who, like Moses, appears in the presence 
of God upon a high mountain and eminent, even far 
above all heavens. Behold, all ye who are fighting 
the good fight of faith, how your great Mediator's 
hands are lifted up towards the throne of God. The 
hands of Moses could not long endure to be stretched 
out, they were heavy and weak, and behoved to be 
strengthened and supported. But Jesus Christ he 
fainteth not, neither is he weary, though his hands be 
stretched out still : therefore shall ye prevail who 
fight under his banner, and have reason to say,- 
** Thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory 
through Jesus Christ our Lord." And as the law was 
ordained by angels in the hand of Moses as a Media- 
tor ; (for they to whom it was published were afraid 
by reason of the fire and dreadful sound which they 
heard, and went not up to the mount;) so Jesus Christ 
our Lord stands betwixt the teiTible majesty of an 
angry God, and feeble guilty man, unable to appear 
in the prerence of his glory : like Moses, he engaged 



THE HISTORY OF MOSES. 53 

his heart to approach unto God. But Moses only 
reported the law to the people, he fulfilled the law. 
Moses quaked, and Christ was sore amazed, inso- 
much that he sweated blood from all the pores of 
his body. Be not afraid, ye redeemed of the Lord, 
ye believe in God, believe also in him. Though 
our God be a consuming fire, the all-gracious Me- 
diator hath quenched the flames, and hushed the 
storm of wrath by his seasonable interposition, and 
the fiery law is now turned into a directing light. 
And, lastly, he aqted the part of a Mediator, when 
they made the calf in Horeb. When the anger of 
the Lord was justly incensed against them for that 
enormous crime, Moses said unto the people, ** I 
will go unto the Lord, peradventure I shall make 
an atonement for your sin. And Moses returned 
unto the Lord, and said : This people hath sinned 
a grievous sin. But now, if thou wilt, forgive their 
sin : if not, blot me out of the book which thou hast 
written." Perhaps he intended to seek, that the 
almighty vengeance might rather fall on his own head, 
than that the whole nation should perish, though he 
was not certain whether the offered propitiation 
would be accepted. But Jesus Christ has not only 
offered himself to die for the guilty race, but has 
actually made the atonement which Moses proposed 
to make, and is set forth for a propitiation through 
faith in his blood. 

Next let us view him as a lawgiver, as the chil- 
dren of Israel eung, " Moses commanded us a law, 
the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob : and 
he was king of Jeshurun." But we Christians may 
say, in the language of the prophet, " The Lord is 
our Judge, the Lord is our King, the Lord is our 
Lawgiver, he will save us." A law is now gone 
forth of Zion ; but, Moses, not like thine, consisting 
of carnal ordinances — a law, not of works, but of 
faith — a law for which the isles of the Gentiles shall 

4 



54 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

wait — a law which is not so much obeyed by doing 
as by believing — and which will never stand in need 
of reformation or repeal. 

But, lastly, let us view him in his prophetic char- 
acter, of whom it is testified, " There arose no pro- 
phet since in Israel like unto Moses, to whom the 
Lord spoke face to face." Yet Moses truly said 
unto the fathers : ** A prophet shall the Lord your 
God raise up unto you your brethren, like unto me ; 
and him shall you hear in all things." Though we 
had not the express authority of an apostle for the 
application of this prediction to the Apostle and 
High Priest of our profession, we can scarcely be 
at a loss to see how it can agree to none other. He, 
is that prophet that should come unto the world, of 
whom Moses wrote, and who is like unto him, if you 
consider : 1. The stock from whence he sprung ; 
for he was raised from among his brethren, not assu- 
ming the nature of angels, but the nature of man, 
and of the seed of Abraham. 2. The meekness of 
his temper which excelled the meekness of Moses, 
as far as the meekness of Moses excelled the meek- 
ness of other men. The Hebrew law^giver, meek 
as he was, cannot be altogether free from sallies of 
impatience ; but the meek and lowly Jesus, who 
calls us to learn of him, was never indecently trans- 
ported with rage, nor uttered one word unadvisedly 
with his lips, though upon the most provoking oc- 
casion. 3. The lustre of his face. For not to men- 
tion his transfiguration on the mount, when his face 
did shine as the sun, he is in his divine person the 
brightness of his Father's glory, which, like Moses, 
he covered with the veil of his flesh, when he de- 
scended into our world, that he might be qualified 
for holding familiar converse with men upon earth, 
his terror not making them afraid. For'if the face 
of Moses, the servant, did shine with such dazzling 
glory, by a short abode in the presence of Jehovah, 



THE HISTOHY OF MOSES 55 

on an earthly mount, that the Israelites could not 
endure to behold him without a veil ; how much 
less could the feeble eyes of mortal men have en- 
dured the face of Christ the Son, who abideth from 
everlasting in the presence of Jehovah, was daily 
his delight, had he shone forth, in all the blaze of 
Deity, without the thick veil of his flesh ] 4. The 
clearness of his manifestations. Of Moses indeed, 
it is said, *' With him will I speak mouth to mouth," 
even apparently, and not in dark speeches, and the 
similitude of the Lord shall he behold ; whereas, it 
was usual for the prophets of inferior rank, to 
receive the intimations of the divine will in dreams 
when they were asleep, and ecstacies when awake. 
But of this Prophet in the New Testament church 
his harbinger declares, *' No man hath seen God at 
any timej but the only begotten Son, which is in 
the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." 
5. His fidelity in executing his commission ; for 
** the words the Father gave unto him, he gave 
unto them ; and as the Father gave him command- 
ment, so he spake. Moses indeed was faithful in 
all his house as a servant, but Christ as a Son over 
his own house." 6. The opposition he met with 
from Jews and Gentiles. He endured the contra- 
diction of sinners against himself, even as Jannes 
and Jambres withstood Moses. And as his nearest 
relations quarrelled with him for marrying Zippo- 
rah, the Ethiopian woman, so did the Jews with Christ 
for espousing the Gentile church. 7. The miracles 
he wrought. *' It was never so seen in Israel." 
Like Moses, he fed the Israelites in the wilderaess, 
and their living was as miraculous as their eating. 
What Moses did literally, the same Christ does 
spiritually for the beloved Israel. He sweetens their 
bitter waters, cures their diseases, supplies their 
wants. Like Moses he fasted forty days ; and like 
Moses he died at the commandment of the Lord. 



56 



VIII. ORDINANCE OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 

As the sun paints tlie clouds with a variety of glo- 
rious colors, which in their own nature are but dark 
and lowering vapors exhaled from the earth ; so 
when the sun of righteousness arises, even the car- 
nal ordinances and commandments of the law, dark 
and earthly as they seem, are gilded by his beams, 
and wear a smiling appearance. By his kindly in- 
fluence, who is the light of the world, the most bar- 
ren places of the scripture rejoice, and blossom as the 
rose. What portion of sacred writ is more apt to be 
perused without edification and delight, than what 
relates to the Levitical priesthood ; the qualifications 
of their persons, their apparel, their consecration ; 
and different parts of their function 1 And indeed it 
must be confessed a very hard task to reconcile with 
the wisdom of God the enjoining such numberless 
rites, purely for their own sake. But when we con- 
sider that Aaron, and his successors, were figures of 
our great High Priest, we must acknowledge, that 
these injunctions are neither unworthy of God, nor 
useless to man, but are profitable for doctrine, and 
instruction in righteousness. We shall instance in 
a few things. 

And, first, we shall take notice of the laws relating 
to the persons of Aaron and his sons. Whosoever he 
was that approached to God in the character of an 
high priest, he behoved, according to the law of Mo- 
ses, to be of the stock of Israel, the tribe of Levi, the 
family of Aaron, his genealogy well attested, his 
body sound, his life temperate, (for he was not to 
drink wine, or other intoxicating liquors ;) his wife 
must be either a virgin, or the widow of a priest, but 
by no means a divorced woman, or an harlot : and, 
lastly, it was absolutely forbidden that he should go 
out of the sanctuary to mourn for the dead, unless 



ORDINANCE OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 57 

they were his nearest relations. Let us apply these 
things to our High Priest. It must indeed be ac- 
knowledged, that he was neither of the tribe of Levi, 
nor the family of Aaron ; for it is evident our Lord 
sprang out of Judah, and Moses says nothing of the 
priesthood belonging to that tiibe. In this respect to 
be sure, he differs from them in a very essential point, 
which however it disqualified him from officiating in 
the temple, (for if he were on earth he should not be 
a priest) yet does not in the least infer his incapacity 
to be a priest of higher order than the order of Aaron, 
that is the order of Melchizedec, who joined in one 
person the priest and the king. The character and 
office of a Levitical priest he never assumed when 
he was upon earth, as indeed he could not have any 
claim upon it. What shall we say then ? That he is 
inferior to Aaron and his successors upon this ac- 
count ] Nay the difference of his tribe is the most 
convincing proof of the super-eminence of his order. 
Like Aaron he was taken from among men, and was 
an Hebrew of the Hebrews, and never any priest of 
them all, could boast of such illustrious pedigree as 
Jesus Christ. Which of them all was born of a virgin] 
and to which of them said God at any time, Thou 
art my beloved Son, this day have I begotten thee ? 
The genealogy of the ancient priest behoved to be 
firmly documented ; but they had no such illustrious 
proofs of their being the sons of Levi, as Christ had 
of his being the Son of God, which his Father attest- 
ed, both by the voice from heaven, and by the mighty 
works he enabled him to do. The soundness of their 
body was no doubt intended to prefigure the integrity 
and perfection of Jesus Christ in his soul ; for the 
least deformity here had rendered him utterly inca- 
pable of propitiating the Deity by the Sacrifice of 
himself: for such an high priest became us, who 
though falsely accused of many sins, was never con- 
victed of any, but was holy, harmless, undefiled, sep- 



58 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

erate from sinners, and a lamb without blemish, and 
without spot, even in the pure eyes of God. Their 
restriction to many a wife in her virginity, may per- 
haps denote that the human nature which our great 
High-Priest, Jesus the Son of God, deigned to wed 
to his divine person, was not deflowered with sin, 
but a pure,. incoiTuptible, and holy thing. But, be- 
yond all doubt, we are naturally led to think of the 
whole church, and every member of that society, be- 
ing presented as chaste virgins unto Christ. In vain 
does the harlot church of Rome, that great whore 
that sits on many waters, claim the high prerogative 
of being the only spouse of Christ. Hear what the 
apostle declares of the followers of the Lamb : 
*^ These are they which were not defiled with woman, 
for they are virgins : these were redeemed from 
among men, being the first fruits to God and to the 
Lamb." The abstinence from wine and strong drink, 
which was commanded, was not only designed to 
inculcate the strictest temperance, (which is a most 
necessary virtue to the discharge of any important 
trust that requires the faculties of the mind to be in 
their most vigorous state ;) but it may be also viewed 
as an implicit intimation of that perfect command 
of himself which our High-Priest had in the discharg- 
ing of his office, never fot'getting what he was about 
in the smallest instance, being always found of quick 
understanding in the fear of the Lord, but by no 
means a gluttonous man, and a wine-bibber, as the 
hypocritical Pharisees maliciously aflfirmed. The 
prohibition of going out of the sanctuary to mourn 
for the dead, was a prediction, that when Jesus Christ 
should pass into the heavenly sanctuary, he should 
leave all his sorrows behind him, and dwell forever 
in the presence of God, where there is fulness of joy. 
Moreover it clearly signifies, that he was to abolish 
death and the grave. Henceforth let no unmanly 
tear be shed for the blessed dead who die in the 



ORDINANCE OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 59 

Lord, The most calamitous event to the eye of sense, 
is, to the eye of faith, the most happy revolution in 
the lot of the just. 

Nor are the laws about their priestly garments 
less instructive and significant. The curious mate- 
rials of the ephod of gold, blue, purple and scarlet, 
might represent the unsearchable riches of Christ, 
and the lustre of those divine gi-aces which adorned 
his sacred humanity. The names of the twelve tribes 
he bore first upon his shoulders, and then upon his 
breastplate, as a memorial before the Lord continu 
ally, engraven on precious stones, and disposed in 
comely order, is no obscure emblem of the saints, 
whom our High Priest carries both on the shoulders 
of his Almighty power, and on the breast of cordial 
love, according to the most pathetic prayers of the 
Spouse, -' Set me as a seal upon thine heart as a seal 
upon thine arm." These names were engraven on 
precious stones for such are all his saints, though 
disallowed of men, and trampled under foot as 
naughty pebbles, yet are they chosen of God, and 
precious, and they shall be his in the day that he 
makes up his jewels. No tribe was wanting in that 
most costly breast-plate ; for Jesus Christ knows 
them by name whom he redeems, both great and 
small, and there is no respect of persons. They were 
arranged in comely order ; for ** he is not the God of 
confusion, but of order, as in all the churches of the 
saints." They were firmly set, and not slightly put 
into the breastplate : for all the faithful are so firmly- 
united unto Jesus Christ, that not the smallest jewel 
can be picked from the breastplate of our Aaron by 
the joint efforts of earth and hell. It was not lawful 
for the Israelites to enter into the most holy place in 
their own persons, but in the person of their high 
priest they entered every year, as their names were 
graven on his shoulders and heart, and presented 
unto Jehovah. Even so in Jesus Christ, the holy 



60 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

Christian nation who Uve upon the earth, are en- 
tered into the hoUest of all, and even set down with 
him in heavenly places. Shall we mention next the 
Urim and the Thummim that Moses was command- 
ed to put into the breastplate of Aaron ] be it so, 
we cannot certainly determine the nature or form of 
this divine workmanship denoted by such an uncom- 
mon phrase ; we are certain, however, that in Jesus 
Christ we have that priest who stands up with Urim 
and Thummim, and bears the judgment of Israel 
before the Lord continually. In him are found the 
clearest light of wisdom, and the greatest perfection 
of holiness. In him that prayer is fully answered, 
" Give the king thy judgment, O Lord, and the king's 
son thy righteousness." The curious girdle signifies 
the alacrity wherewith our high priest discharged 
every part of his office ; for girding up the loins of 
his mind, he did, with all his might w^hat his hand 
found. Aaron's girdle was indeed of costly texture, 
gold and purple, blue and scarlet. But of Jesu^ 
Christ it was prophesied, " Faithfulness shall be the 
girdle of his loins, and righteousness the girdle of 
his reins." The beloved apostle John beheld him 
equipped with this priestly ornament, when he saw 
him in the visions of God walking in the midst of 
the seven golden candlesticks, clothed with a long 
white garment down to the foot, and girt about the 
paps with a golden girdle. The golden bells sus- 
pended around the hem of Aaron's under robe, may 
signify the sweet sound of the gospel which is gone 
into all the earth. O greatly blessed are the people 
who hear this joyful sound, sweeter to the ear of faith 
than music in its softest strains to the ear of the body, 
an undoubted sign that our High Priest is alive, 
though we see him not, and lives forever in the pre- 
sence of Jehovah to make intercession for us. 

The pomegranates that were curiously wrought 
betwixt the bells, and equal to them in number, may 



ORDINANCE OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 61 

be an emblem of those fruits of righteousness with 
which the preaching of the gospel is attended. The 
fair mitre that adorned his head, with the venerable 
inscription on the plate of gold surrounding his 
temples, may put us in mind of Jesus Christ, who is 
the only crowned Priest, and not only holy, but holi» 
ness itself unto the Lord ; yea, he is himself the holy 
Jehovah, and fountain of holiness unto his people. 
For " this is the name whereby he shall be called, 
The Lord our righteousness.^' 

Such were the garments for glory and beauty the 
typical priesthood were commanded to wear, and 
such their mystical signification. Let us come next 
to the manner of their consecration. The Hebrew 
lawgiver i^ directed to bring Aaron and his sons to 
the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, where 
they were washed with water, arrayed with the 
priestly vestments, anointed with the costly oil,. which 
it was death to counterfeit, and lastly, sanctified by 
the offering up of peculiar sacrifices, whose blood 
was put upon the extreme parts of their bodies. 
Though every minute circumstance in these vener- 
able rites may not be capable of application to Jesus 
Christ, it is sufficient if we can obsei'\'e a general 
analogy. Aaron was washed in water, to signify 
that he was before polluted ; and Christ was bap- 
tized, not indeed because he was himself polluted, 
but as it became him to fulfil all righteousness. 
Aaron was arrayed with the appointed vestment : 
and Christ was clothed with the garment of our flesh, 
curiously wrought in the lower parts of the earth. 
Aaron was anointed with oil, wherewith the inferior 
priests were but sprinkled ; but Christ is anointed 
with the Holy Ghost, which God gives not by mea- 
sure unto him. Aaron was consecrated with the 
blood of beasts ; but Christ was sanctified by his 
own blood, and made perfect through sufferings, by 
which he learned obedience, though he was the Son 
of God. 4* 



62 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

The different parts of their function is the last 
thing that demands our attention. " Every high 
priest taken from among men," in the manner above 
described, " is ordained for men in things pertaining 
unto God, and to offer both gifts and sacrifices for 
sin.'* This, indeed was the most distinguishing part 
of their office, and fundamental to all other functions 
that are appropriated to them. How^ever, they w^ere 
also appointed to bless the people, to pray for them, 
to instruct them in the knov^ledge of the divine w^ill, 
to oversee the service of the tabernacle, to blow the 
trumpets both in peace and war, and to judge be- 
twixt the clean and the unclean. But we see Jesus 
our High Priest giving himself an offering and a sac- 
rifice of sweet smelling savor, more graceful unto 
God, and more appeasing to his incensed justice, 
than all the victims that ever smoked in the worldly 
sanctuary, or than all the gifts that were ever pre- 
sented there, or than all the incense that ever fumed 
from the golden censer. Put off your robes, ye le- 
gal priesthood, your work is finished, your office 
entirely superseded. What ye could not do by 
multiplied oblations, Jesus Christ has done by one 
sacrifice. The vail is now rent, and the temple now 
destroyed. The shadow has given place to the sub- 
stance. Perhaps it was not without a mystic signi- 
fication, that Zacharias, a priest of Aaron's order, 
and the father of John, the harbinger of Chris% was 
struck dumb when officiating in the temple, so that 
he could not speak unto the people when he came 
forth of the holy place. Might it not be a silent 
omen, that a dispensation was now commencing in 
the days of Messiah, wherein none of Aaron's order 
should open their mouths any more to bless the peo- 
ple, saying, " The Lord bless thee, and keep thee ; 
the Lord make his face to shine upon thee, and be 
gracious unto thee : the Lord lift up his countenance 
upon thee, and give thee peace. Jesus is that 



THE HISTORY OF JOSHUA. 63 

piiest whom God hath sent to bless us, who prays 
for his people, whose lips keep knowledge to in- 
struct us in the will of God. Jesus is that priest 
who oversees the sei-vice of the tabernacle, being 
head over all things to the church, which is his 
body, Jesus is that priest who now blows the great 
trumpet of the Gospel, and who shall descend 
shortly from heaven with a shout, with the voice of 
the archangel, and with the trumjD of God, to gather 
the congregation of the righteous. Then all who 
have him not for their priest to wash and sprinkle 
them with his hyssop and blood, shall have him for 
their priest to pronounce them utterly unclean. 



IX. THE HISTORY OF JOSHUA. 

The name of Joshua and Jesus are scarcely more 
alike than their achievements. This captain, so fa- 
mous in the sacred history, was nominated to be the 
successor of Moses, and ordained of God's command 
to this high post, in the presence of all the congre- 
gation of Israel. He received the name of Joshua 
before, when sent to spy out the land, his foraier 
name being Oshea ; and he is the first of the typical 
persons who was called by the very name, by which, 
in future ages, a greater Saviour than he was com- 
monly known. Perhaps it was not without its mean- 
ing, that he was the servant, before he was the suc- 
cessor of Moses ; for it might signify, that our Jesus 
was the first to become the servant of the law, before 
he should abolish it. But passing this, let as take a 
more particular notice of the most memorable passa- 
ges of that marvellous campaign. 

And the first thing that presents itself to our view, 
is his passing the Jordan, which w^as miraculously 
driven back to afford a passage to the chosen people. 



64 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

In this river God was pleased for the first time to 
magnify his servant Joshua in the sight of all the 
tribes of Israel ; and in this river it pleased God to 
give the most public testimony to Jesus Christ, when 
the heavens seemed to open at his baptism, and the 
Holy Ghost descended in the likeness of a dove, 
and a voice from the excellent glory proclaimed his 
high character. But the chief thing to be observed 
here, is the resemblance betwixt the passage of Is- 
rael over Jordan into the promised land under the 
conduct of Joshua, and the passage of all the redeem- 
ed through death into the heavenly inheritance. Long 
had they traversed the vast and howling wilderness, 
the haunt of ravenous beasts, and poisonous serpents, 
where their hearts many a time were like to faint 
for thirst and hunger ; but now the land flowing with 
milk and honey receives them, and their wanderings 
in the pathless desert are forever ended. Though 
Jordan overflows his banks, their march is unob- 
structed. O powerful presence of Jehovah ! "The 
sea saw it and fled, and Jordan was driven back." 
And now they have taken farewell of the weary wil- 
derness, we hear no more of the miraculous cloud 
that conducted them, nor of the manna that fed them 
forty years. Such is the safety of all true Israelites 
when marching to their promised rest, under the 
conduct of the Captain of their salvation. Death is 
the Jordan through which they pass from the wilder- 
ness of this world into the blissful regions of immor- 
tality. But when they pass through these waters 
they shall not ovei'flow them ; for he who dries up 
the waters of the sea by his rebuke, wdll be graciously 
present with them till they gain the safe shore of 
Immanuel's land. Then shall the ordinances be 
discontinued, and the Bible superseded, which are 
so necessary in their wandering state to support their 
lives ; and guide their paths ; as the cloud vanished, 
and the manna staved, when the fine wheat of Ca- 



THE HISTORY OF JOSHUA. 65 

naan supplied the Israelites with food, according to 
the promise. It is not Moses, but Joshua who leads 
them through Jordan. Jesus, thou art the only con- 
queror of death. What will they do when they come 
to the swellings of Jordan, who are not under thy 
auspicious conduct 'J Thanks be to God who ^ives 
us this victory over death, not through Moses or the 
the law, but through Jesus Christ our Lord. Twelve 
stones are left by the Hebrew captain as a memorial 
of this great deliverance ; and twelve apostles were 
appointed by the captain of our salvation to be wit- 
nesses of all things which he did, both in the land of 
the Jews and in Jerusalem. 

From the banks of Jordan let us now come to the 
walls of Jericho, the accursed city. Never was town 
or garrison besieged in such a manner before or 
since. No mounts are raised, no battering rams are 
applied to the walls, no attempts are made to sap 
the foundations ; but, by the direction of the Lord 
of Hosts, the army marches in silent parade round 
the walls. Their martial music is not the sound of 
their silver trumpets, but of ram horns blown by their 
priests. Ridiculous, weak, and foolish as his new 
method of assault might seem to the unbelieving sin- 
ners of Jericho, they soon found that the weakness 
of God is stronger than men, and that the most con- 
temptible means when God ordains them, shall gain 
their end in spite of all opposition. *' What ailed 
thee, O sea, that thou fleddest ] Jordan, that thou 
w^ast driven back]" and ye walls of Jericho, that ye 
fell flat to the ground, when compassed seven days ] 
It was not owing to the sword of Israel, nor even to 
the sound of the trumpets, but to the power of Isra- 
el's God, accompanying this feeble mean prescribed 
for the trial of their faith, and proof of their obedi- 
ence. For, O the power of Faith 1 had their walls 
threatened the clouds, and been harder than ada- 
mant, firmer than brass, down must thev tumble on 



66 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

the evening of the seventh day. Thus are the strong 
holds of sin, and every high thing that exalts itself 
against the New Testament Joshua, cast dow^n by 
the mighty w^eapons of the Christian warfare, which 
are not carnal. The feeble voice of the Gospel, 
when faithfully preached though not with a silver 
sound, or with excellency of speech shall be imighty 
through God to triumph over all opposition : so it 
was in the days of the apostles ; so it has been in 
every distant age ; and so it shall be till the victory 
is complete. Thus, Babylon, shall thy proud towers 
be levelled with the ground, though seemingly fear- 
less of assaults. *^ For the day of the Lord shall be 
on every high wall, and on every one that is proud 
and lifted up." Though the kings of the earth should 
give their strength to the beast, our Joshua shall 
prevail, by the foolishness of preaching, and the 
sound of the gospel-trumpet ; and at the appointed 
time the strong-lunged angel shall cry, ** Babylon 
the great is fallen, is fallen." 

The saving of Rahab and her household -is the 
next remarkable occun'ence. Who would have ex- 
pected to find in this city of destruction even a strong 
believer, whose faith should be celebrated by one 
apostle and her works by another ] and who should 
have also the honor to make one of that illustrious 
line from whence the Messiah should arise ] But so 
it was. Though once a notorious sinner, and called 
*^ Rahab the harlot" to this day; yet she was a be- 
liever of the promise that God made to Israel, and 
proved by her works that her faith was genuine : for 
protecting the messengers of Joshua at the hazard 
of her life, she preferred the interests of the church 
of God to those of her country, which she knew very 
well was impossible to be saved. Though w^e can 
by no means justify the dissimulation by which she 
saved the spies from the pursuevants of the king of 
Jericho ; yet as God has forgiven those blameable 



THE HISTORY OF JOSHUA. 67 

parts of her conduct of which she has long since truly 
repented. Well does Joshua answer his name, in 
saving not the race of Israel only, but Rahab, though 
a cursed Cananite, with all her household, though 
sinners of the Gentiles. Was it not a dark prelude 
of Jesus Christ, our better Joshua, his saving the 
Gentile world from the wrath to come, as well as 
the preserved of Jacob ] Might it not portend, that 
publicans and harlots, and such notorious sinners, 
should be received among the first into his heavenly 
kingdom ] and that the harlot Gentiles, who formerly 
were serving divers lusts, and living in the most 
abominable idolatries, should be incorporated into 
the holy society of the church, and espoused as a 
chaste bride to Jesus Christ, as Rahab became a 
proselyte to the Jewish religion, and the wife of Na- 
asson, an illustrious prince in the chief of their tribes ] 
Perhaps the scarlet thread, which, at the direction 
of the spies, she hung forth of the window, as a 
discriminating signal, by which all under her roof 
were exempted from the dismal desolation ; perhaps, 
I say it might be an intimation, though a very ob- 
scure one, that the shedding of Christ's red blood 
should prove the means of salvation to the Gentile 
world, and of making peace betwixt the Jews and 
them, who were formerly at variance, and harboured 
mutual hatred. Red was the colour of salvation to 
Israel in Egypt, when the sprinkling their doors 
with blood protected them from the destroying 
angel's sword; and red is the colour of salvation to 
Rahab in Canaan, when the hanging a scarlet thread 
over her windows was her security from the destroy- 
ing sword of Israel. Happy they who have the 
blood of Christ uj)on them, not for destruction, (as 
the Jews who murdered him, and imprecated this 
dreadful vengeance on themselves,) but^br salvation, 
(as all them who believe.) Rahab's safety was con- 
firmed by the oath of men, but theirs by the oath of 



68 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

God, for wliom it is impos^ble to lie. Destruction 
approaches not these doors, death enters not these 
windows where the blood of Christ is found. 

In vain did the kings of Canaan conspire to op- 
pose the victorious Joshua after the destruction of 
Jericho ; for at last he bids his captains set their 
feet upon the necks of their hostile princes in token 
of full conquest. Nor was it strange he should be 
able to do this, when the very heavens befriended 
him, by casting down prodigious hail-stones to kill 
his flying enemies ; and their most glorious lumi- 
naries, the sun and moon, were obedient to his voice, 
and stood still in their habitation, till the vengeance 
written was executed upon the devoted nations. 
Such is that complete victory over all the enemies of 
God and his people, which he shall gain who goes 
forth conquering and to cqnquer. It is the distin- 
guished honor of all his faithful soldiers to tread 
upon the devil, the world, and the lusts of the flesh. 
These are the dragons and the lions which they 
trample under their feet ; these are the kings they 
bind with chains; these are the nations they shall 
dash in shivers as a potter's vessel with a rod of 
iron. And a time is coming when the upright shall 
have dominion over the wicked; for so is his will 
whom not only the sun and moon, but all the num- 
erous hosts of heaven and earth obey. 

At last the favored nation of the Jews are brought 
into their promised rest, under the conduct of their 
valiant general. He puts them in quiet possession 
of that happy country which he had before spied 
out for them. This Moses could not do. So Jesus 
Christ hath introduced us, not into a temporal rest, 
like thine, O Joshua, but into a spiritual and eternal 
rest, and incorruptible and undefiled inheritance, 
which the law could not do, having become weak 
throuofh the flesh. 



69 



X. THE HISTORY OF SAMSON. 

Let us now glance at the prodigious feats of 
Samson, that mighty and renowned judge of Israel, 
whose birth, life and death, were all so extraordi- 
nary, that, as some suppose, the fabulous tales of 
Hercules, so famous in Greece, are but this true 
history metamorphosed, and dashed with fiction. It 
may indeed seem odd to insert a person, whose vices 
were so glaring and unmanly, in the catalogue of 
the illustrious types of Jesus Christ ; for the hints 
of his religious and saintly disposition in the history 
of the Judges, are so dubious and sparing, that one 
would be tempted to suspect whether he was a saint 
at all. But the honorable character, he was vested 
with by God, and the signal deliverances of his peo- 
ple he was enabled to achieve, afford us more than 
a presumption that he was not wholly a stranger to 
the fear of the Lord. Above all, his reputation as 
a believer is firmly established by a New Testament 
wrriter, who ranks him among the eminent worthies 
who " lived and died in faith, who by faith subdued, 
kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promi- 
ses, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the vio- 
lence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword ; out of 
weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, 
and turned to flight the armies of the aliens.'' Be 
it so, that, on account of the criminal weakness of 
his mind, which wrought his own destruction, he is 
rather a figure of the sinner ; yet if we consider the 
prodigious strength of his body, which v^'ought sal- 
vation in Israel, he is justly esteemed a figure of 
the Saviour. 

The circumstances of his birth so much resemble 
those of Jesus Christ's, that we can scarcely pass 
them over in silence. Both Jesus Christ and he 
were conceived in an extraordinary manner beside 



70 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

the course of nature ; their birth, and future impor- 
tance, were declared, by a messenger from the invis- 
ible world, to their female parents, that they should 
be Nazarites unto God, and saviour's of Israel. 
Only whereas Samson's mother was but a barren 
spouse, the mother of Jesus was an unspotted vir- 
gin. The angel that appeared to Manoah's wife re- 
fused to tell his name when importuned; but the 
angel who appeared to the wife of Joseph, declared 
who he was without being asked. Samson was but 
a legal Nazaiite from the womb, and many time he 
seems to have acted a part very unworthy of such 
a sacred name ; but Jesus Christ was that in sub- 
stance, which Samson, and other Nazarites, were 
only in shadow ; " holy, harmless, undefiled, separa- 
ted from sinners, purer than snow, whiter than milk, 
more ruddy in body than rubies, his polishing was 
of sapphire." He was, during his whole life, dedi- 
cated to the service of God, abstracted from the af- 
fairs of the world, denied to the gratifications of 
sense, and pure from all uncleanness. And, lastly, 
that the resemblance betwixt him and that religious 
order might be more complete, whereas, at the ex- 
piring of their vow, they were obliged, by the divine 
law, to offer as many sacrifices as though they had 
been lepers, even though they had fully complied 
with all their restrictions ; so Jesus Christ, that he 
might fully pay his vow to the mighty God of Jacob, 
offered himself a sacrifice, though he had no sin of 
his own to be expiated. And perhaps it is more 
than a conjecture, that his education in the village 
of Nazareth, which occasioned his being called a 
Nazarene, in the common style of his country, was 
intended, in the secret providence of God, to be an 
intimation to all, that he was the true Nazarene in 
whom the ancient laws of Nazariteship were to re- 
ceive their end : and thus, according to the holy 
evangelist, it was fulfilled that is written in the pro- I 
phets, " He shall be called a Nazarene.'' ■ 



THE HISTORY OF SAMSON. 71 

We shall now come to take notice of some of the 
most singular actions of this illustiious Danite,which 
are as uncommon as his extraordinary birth pre- 
saged. Whether his mamage with a Philistine was 
any dark figure of the calling of the Gentiles, I will 
not determine. But his encounter with the young 
lion that roared against him, when he had no defen- 
sive weapon in his hand, in which he was victorious, 
(a prelude of his future victories,) seems not unlike 
that first prelusive battle our Redeemer had with 
the roaring lion of hell, who met him in the wilder- 
ness, and roared against him by three most hideous 
temptations, but was totally routed and overcome 
by the lion of the tribe of Judah. 

Hail Son of the Most High, heir of both worlds, 
Queller of Satan, on thy glorious work 
Now enter and begin to save mankind. 

Milton. 

And whereas the dead carcass of the lion is re- 
corded to have become an hive of bees, who, by 
some strange instinct, chose here to make their 
honey, this may at least put us in mind what are the 
happy effects of the conquests of our Redeemer. 
The law roared against him by its threatenings, but 
he overcome it by his complete satisfaction. Death 
roared against him, and thought to swallow him ; 
but, O death he was thy plague. Be not afraid of 
the condemning law, ye that believe in the Son of 
God, tremble not at the thoughts of death. These 
roaring lions are quelled by your Redeemer, who 
has seen the travail of his soul, and is satisfied, as 
Samson did eat of the honey which he found in the 
carcass, and who also invites his people to partake 
with him, in his repast, as it is said, ** Eat ye that 
which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fat- 
ness." To have beheld a flight of eagles alighted 
on the caiTion : would have been no uncommon oc- 



72 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

currence : for, " where the carcass is, there will the 
eagles be gathered together.'' But for bees to take 
up their quarters in a dead carcass, and there to 
deposit their delicious stores, is so unlike the na- 
tural disposition of these clean and prudent insects, 
as to afford the matter of that famous riddle which 
this great champion propounded to his friends on 
occasion 'of this extraordinary adventure, and which 
they were not able to guess the meaning of, till, 
according to the proverb then used, they ploughed 
with his heifer. That swarms of Christians should 
be associated together, and live by the death of Je- 
sus Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, whose 
flesh is meat indeed ; that glory should come to us 
by his dishonor, riches by his poverty, strength by 
his weakness, life by his death ; that the most un- 
likely means should bring about the most glorious 
and beneficial ends ; that our most terrible enemies 
should be meat for us : that what promises nothing 
but stench and putrefaction, should yield sweet com- 
fort and refreshment ; these are the things which by 
the Gospel are declared unto us. Here Samson, thy 
riddle unfolds itself, which none can understand 
aright who plough not with God's Heifer, that is, the 
Spirit of God, who searcheth all things, and reveals 
what the natural man receiveth not nor knows. 

It was strange the Israelites did not join together 
under such a redoubted champion to shake off the 
shameful yoke of the Philistines. But they were so 
lost to all sense of shame and gratitude, as to treat 
the deliverer of their country like the betrayer of it. 
They bind (by his own consent) their judge and 
avenger, and traitorously deliver him up to their 
tyrants and oppressors. But their joy was short in 
their prisoner. For bursting their bands, and casting 
away their cords, with a very contemptible weapon, 
he deals death and desolation at every blow, and 
makes a most tenible carnage. For the Spirit of 



THE HISTORY OF SAMSON. 73 

the Lord came upon him, and nerved his arm with 
more than mortal vigor. And the promise vras lit- 
erally fulfilled, ** That one should chase a thousand.'* 
Even so, the avenger of the human race, the Lord 
Jesus Christ, was basely delivered up by his own 
countrymen, who had received many favors from 
him, into the hands of the Gentiles. But without 
his consent, Judas, with all his rout, could not have 
bound him. O Saviour of the world ! thy love to 
men, and obedience to God, were the invisible but 
mighty cords that held thee fast. These, and not 
the nails that transfixed thy hands and feet, hindered 
thee to save thyself, and come down from the cross. 
But the triumphing of the wicked w^as short; for 
when they vainly imagined they had him sure and 
safe fastened on a cross, and laid in the grave, he 
starts up a dreadful adversary, the cords of death 
are not able to hold him ; out of weakness he is 
made strong; and though all nations compassed 
him, yet in the name of the Lord he did destroy 
them. And how contemptible was the instrument 
he used in this mighty work ! As when Samson, 
who wanted not spears and swords, was directed to 
use no other weapon but the jaw bone of an ass : so 
Jesus Christ, who could have commanded the secu- 
lar arm to spread the conquests of his Gospel, or 
have ordained strength out of the mouths of eloquent 
orators, or profound philosophers ; yet chose con- 
temptible fishermen, and perfected praise out of the 
mouths of babes and sucklings. 

I might mention, in the next place, his marvellous 
escape from Gaza, where he was watched all night 
by his enemies, but he eluded their vigilance, and 
unhinging their massy gates, he took away upon his 
shoulders part of the battlements of that strong city, 
for they were not the Lord's, and earned them to 
the top of an hill, the enemies having no power 
either to resist or to pursue. An emblem of our 



74 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

mighty Saviour sleeping in the chamber of the grave 
vs^here he w^as v^atched by the jealous Scribes and 
Pharisees w^ho vainly imagined to hinder his resur- 
rection. But vehen they least expected, he arose, 
he burst the gates of death, and leading captivi:iy 
captive, he ascended on high. 

But the manner in w^hich he died is perhaps w^hat 
most entitles him to be the type of Jesus Christ w^ho, 
like Samson, vs^as betrayed and sold by a pretended 
fi'iend, bound, blindfolded, insulted, and made his 
grave v^ith the wricked. Like Samson, he v^illingly 
resigned his breath ; but by his death, death was 
abolished, principalities and pov^ers w^ere spoiled, 
and, O ye enemies of salvation, destructions have a 
perpetual end. Thy death, O Jesus, is our life, and 
by thy cross we triumph over these wicked lusts 
that have shorn the locks of our strength, have 
bound us with fetters of iron, have put out the eyes 
of our mind, and made us dwell in darkness, and 
toil at the abhorred drudgery of the devil. Happy 
they who are avenged of these cruel enemies, 
though like thee, O Samson, they should die with 
them. 



XL THE HISTORY OF DAVID. 

There is scarcely a more amiable and consum-: 
mate character to be found in the compass of sacred 
history than David's, notwithstanding sorrie blem- 
ishes with which it is tarnished. What mouth is not 
opened in the praises of this good king, the first of 
the kind that swayed the Jewish sceptre, who is 
honored to be the penman of these devout and rap- 
turous compositions styled the Psalms, where the 
graces of poetry strive with the beauties of holiness, 
and which are justly esteemed the treasure of the 



THE HISTORY OF DAVID. 75 

world, and a complete system of revelation in min- 
iature ] When we consider that fei-vent devotion, 
that submission to the divine will, that delight in 
God's law, and zeal for his worship, that spirit of 
forgiveness in the case of personal injuries, and the 
other lovely graces that breathe through all his 
writings and history, we must certainly allow him 
to have been a saint of the first magnitude. But it 
is chiefly to be observed, to the honor of this illus- 
trious king, so much talked of in the Bible, that he 
was at once a prophet, a progenitor, and a figure of 
the Messiah. The last particular is so evident, from 
innumerable places, where David and his Lord ex- 
change, not only words and speeches, but also 
names, that taking for gi'anted this obvious truth, 
we shall briefly hint at the most remarkable paral- 
lels betwixt them. 

Perhaps his very name David, which signifies 
beloved, may intimate, that Christ his antitype should 
be the beloved of God and of men. But it is cer- 
tain the place of his birth was always held to be the 
same where Christ should be born. Might not this 
be one reason why David (who was a prophet, and 
knew that himself was a type of Christ, and that he 
should be born in the same village) discovered such 
a fondness for Bethlehem, as to be seized with 
ardent longing even for a draught of water from its 
well ] Much was this little village aggrandized, by 
giving birth to king David, but more by giving birth 
to Jesus Christ : for so the prophet sings ; " But 
thou Bethlehem-Ephratah, though thou be little 
among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee 
shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler of 
Israel, whose goings forth have been of old from 
everlasting." 

From the place of his birth let us come to the 
qualifications of his person both in body and mind. 
The ruddiness of his complexion is very particularly 



76 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

noticed by the sacred historian. And besides the 
comeliness of his person, his prudence and valour ' 
recommended him at court, when he had no higher 
title than the son of Jesse the Bethlehemite. But 
above all, his character is crowned by the most 
ample commendation God was pleased to give him 
when he removed Saul, " I have found a man after 
mine own heart, that shall fulfil all my will." And 
where shall these illustrious endowments be found 
in their highest perfect but in the person of the Son 
of David, who is white and ruddy, the chieftest 
among ten thousand, fairer than the children of men, 
the mighty God, the prudent sei'vant of the Lord, 
and lastly, who came to do thy will, O God, thy law 
was in the midst of his heart. 

Let us next compare their sufferings, and we shall 
find a surprising resemblance. We might, first, take 
notice of his lurking in obscurity for a long time in 
his fathers's house, where he tended the flocks of 
sheep, before he was a shepherd of men. But 
diough the like obscurity was the fate of Jesus 
Christ for a long track of years, when he dwelt in 
his father's house, perhaps it is not so proper to 
mention this particular under the head of David's 
afflictions : for we can scarce doubt but it was the 
most happy period of his life, when he followed the 
ewes with young. From the time he began to 
attract the observation of the world, what was the 
greatest part of his life but a continual war ] His 
own brother made him a very surly speech to deter 
him from his first public adventure in encountering 
Goliah, insinuating, that the sole motive he had in 
visiting the camp at that juncture, was pride and 
haughtiness of heart. Which puts us in mind of 
the coarse reception of our gracious Redeemer met 
with from his brethren according to the flesh, who 
received him not, but loaded him with the most odi- 
ous imputations, and virulent reproaches, and 



THE HISTORY OF DAVID. 77 

always put the worst constructions upon his words 
and actions. We are also told, that some of his 
nearest relations believed not on him. And as to 
the persecutions he endured under the tyrant reign 
of Saul, (which were the occasion of many sweet 
psalms, transmitted even to our times,) the likeness 
betwixt them and those of Jesus Chiist, under the 
tyrant reign of Herod, is greater than one would 
think at first view. David's life is sought after by 
his own king ; and what was the quari'el ? It was 
the fear that David would succeed to the crown, as 
was revealed to the prophet Samuel : so Jesus Christ 
is persecuted by Herod king of Judah, from a fool- 
ish supposition, that he could elude the high decree 
of heaven, and falsify the scriptures of the prophets. 
In David's quarrel the innocent priests in Nob were 
cruelly butchered, and the innocent babes in Beth- 
lehem, in the cause of Jesus Christ. Cursed be their 
anger, far it was cruel. But both the bloody tyrants 
shared the same success ; for as all attempts to seize 
the person of David were vain, so Herod's bloody plot 
against the life of Christ proved abortive. But when 
we are remembering David and all his afflictions, we 
must not forget that very singular one which befel 
him, when he was compelled, by an unnatural son, 
and rebellious subjects, to fly from his royal city, and 
with his sorrowful friends passed over the brook 
Kidron in a melancholy plight. It was over this 
same brook the Son and Lord of David passed to 
that fatal garden where he was apprehended, in com- 
pany with his sorrowful apostles. And what was 
no small addition to David's distress, his own familiar 
fiiend, in whom he confided, and servant that eat of 
his bread, played the traitor, and lifted up his heel 
against him. A circumstance which was not want- 
ing in the case of Jesus Chiist, betrayed by one of 
his apostles. Who knows not that the same script- 
ures are applied to Judas, in the New Testament, 



78 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

that are in the Old spoken of Ahithophel ] Let his 
habitation be desolate and let another take his office. 
It is true, the son of David knew from the beginning 
who should betray him, which David knew not : but in 
other respects the parallel is very near ; for both these 
cursed traitors were alike in their former character 
and trusts, alike in their execrable villany, and alike 
in their tragical end. 

Having enumerated some of David's typical afHic- 
tions, let us come to his renowned achievements 
both in war and peace, wherein also he seems to 
have been designed an emblem of the same glorious 
person. His victory over that proud insulting Phil- 
istine who defied the armies of the living God, is 
none of the least exploits for which he stands re- 
corded in the rolls of fame. He heard his blasphe- 
mous railing; he saw the unmanly terror of the Is- 
raelites, who all declined the single coinbat of this 
vain boaster ; he was informed of the great rewards 
the victor should receive from the king, and not in 
the least intimidated by his fierce appearance ; he 
resolves to accept the challenge in the name of the 
insulted God of Israel. Armed with no weapons 
but his staff and sling, he lays the vaunting warrior 
prostrate in death, adding withal this indignity 
to his huge corpse, to sever his head from the 
body with his own sword. Let the vaunting Goliah 
be an emblem of^the devil, who has the power of 
death. A great reward is 2:>roposed to the person 
who shall encounter and overcome this formidable 
enemy, by the King of heaven. No man, no angel, 
dared the arduous enterprise. But Jesus Christ de- 
scended to visit his brethren, and see our camp, and 
moved with a becoming zeal for the glory of God, 
and the salvation of the human race, and for the joy 
that was set before him, he prepares himself for the 
mortal combat. His brethren indeed despised him, 
and used him rudely, but ho was not deterred from 



THE HISTORY OF DAVID. 79 

his merciful design. He borrowed no armor fl'om 
us, for lie only partook of our infirm fleshy nature ; 
but by his own strength and wisdom he obtained the 
victory with the staff of his cross ; a most unlikely 
weapon ! for God was his shield and glory, and the 
lifter up of his head, " by death," which was like the 
devil's sword, " he destroyed him that had the power 
of death ; " and the saying of the prophet is fulfilled, 
*' I will save them by the Lord their God, and will 
not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, 
nor by horses, nor by horsemen." We might also 
observ e,how his taking the strong-hold of Zion from 
the Jebusites might be an emblem of Christ his con- 
quering the Gentile church. His desiiing to find a 
place for the God of Jacob to rest in, may be con- 
sidered in the same light. This, O Savior, was 
thy gloiious design in visiting our regions of mor- 
tality, to find a place of rest among the sinful race of 
men, for that God whose throne is the highest heaven, 
and his footstool the earth — to find not a shadowy 
rest upon an earthly mountain, or in a mateiial struc- 
ture, but a real, a glorious, an everlasting rest, in the 
temple of thy body the church, that God the Lord 
might dwell for ever among them. 

Great was the glory to which the king of Israel 
was raised from small beginnings ; and the prudence 
of his administration when he was lifted out of the 
dust proved him not to have been unworthy of such 
high dignity. It is true, we must allow him to have 
committed no small errors in some particular acts 
of governments ; but as to the main of his conduct, 
he received this honorable testimony. *^ He fed 
them according to the integrity of his heart, and 
guided them by the skilfulness of his hand." Even 
so the humble Savior, who might truly say, '^ Mine 
heart is not haughty, O Lord, neither are mine eyes 
lofty," was exalted from his state of low debasement 
to the highest pinnacle of glory, to become not only 



80 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

the head of his church, but of the Heathen, and the 
people who knew him not are made to serve his will. 
But in this he far excels the type, that the annals of 
his reign are not stained with any the smallest blots, 
and ** of the increase of his government and peace 
there shall be no end.'' 

We shall but mention, in the last place, the cov- 
enant of royalty which God was pleased to make 
with David and his seed for ever ; an emblem of that 
covenant which God had made with Christ as the 
representative of his chosen people. This covenant, 
O David, was thy consolation in all thy family-trials, 
and under the melancholy apprehensions of thy 
successor's apostacy. O may it also be our conso- 
lation, and let all the children of Zion be joyful in 
their King. 



XII. THE HISTORY OF SOLOMON. 

The next illustrious personage we shall mention, 
is Solomon the son of David ; the wise, wealthy, 
magnificent, and peaceful monarch of Jerusalem, 
who, like his father, was honored to be the penman 
of a very considerable and useful part of the inspired 
writings, by which he may be justly reckoned to 
have made abundant compensation to the church of 
God, for the great offence he was left to give to all 
good men, by the sad apostacy of his advanced years. 
That he was a figure of the Messiah, seems evident 
from what God said concerning him by the prophet 
Nathan, which is applied by a New Testament wri- 
ter to Jesus Christ, — " I will be to him a Father, 
and he shall be to me a son ; " — from what David 
said in the seventy-second Psalm ; — and from the 
most excellent Song of songs coriiposed by Solomon, 
not concerning himself, but Jesus Christ, the glori- 



THE HISTORY OF SOLOMON. 81 

ous Bridegroom of the church, under a borrowed 
name. Nor is it difficult to find out several things 
in Solomon's character and history that greatly re- 
semble the character and history of a far greater 
Person than he. 

We shall first, take notice of that wisdom and 
sagacity for which he was so much celebrated. It 
pleased God to confer upon this beloved king a very 
uncommon measure of intellectual endowments, to 
fit him for discharging the high office to which he 
was raised. He asked wisdom from God as the best 
and most perfect gift : nor did he ask in vain ; for 
God gave him a wise and understanding heart, as 
never monarch had before. His wisdom far excelled 
that of the most renowned sages of his time. The 
world of nature was all his own. He spake of plants 
and animals from the triumphant cedan* down to the 
humble moss, and from the soaring eagle to the 
creeping insect. As a scholar, no question was too 
hard for him to resolve, and as a judge, no cause too 
intricate to decide. The wisdom of his proverbial 
sayings, and the sublimity of his poetical composi- 
tions, may be most certainly inferred from those 
specimens which have reached our times. He was 
not only revered as the oracle of his country, but 
even princes, neighboring and remote, courted his 
friendship, and were ambitious of his acquaintance. 
His very servants that ministered unto him, were 
pronounced happy by a great queen, who fired with 
the love of wisdom, undertook a large and expensive 
journey, leaving for a time the delights of her court, 
and the cares of state, to pay him a visit of whom 
she had heard so much, though still, as she afterwards 
acknowledged, the half had not been told her ; there- 
fore shall she rise up in judgment against the men 
in every generation, who refuse to hear the wisdom, 
and receive the instruction of a greater than Solomon, 
who is the wisdom of God itself, and in whom are 



S2 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

hid treasures, all treasures of wisdom and knowl- 
edge ; who, instead of waiting till we come to seek 
him, has come from heaven to us, and cries in the 
chief places of concourse, in the opening of the gates, 
in the city he uttereth his words, ** How long, ye 
simple ones, will ye love simplicity, and fools hate 
knowledge ] turn you at my reproof." What was 
thy wisdom, Solomon, to his on whom, as the prophet 
testifies, the Spirit of the Lord did rest, the Spirit 
of wisdom, counsel, and knowledge, to make him 
of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord. Ad- 
mire we the vast extent of Solomon's erudition ] 
There is no creature that is not manifest in the sight 
of Jesus Christ from the greatest unto the least. It 
is recorded of him that with the utmost facihty he 
answered the hard questions that were put to him ! 
Neither can the wisdom of Jesus Christ be nonplus- 
sed to answer the most puzzling query, when that 
most difficult of any has been resolved by him. 
" Wherewith shall a guilty sinner come before the 
Lord 1 and how shall he bow himself before the hig-h. 
God ] " Was Solomon an acute penetrating judge, 
judging his people with righteousness, and his poor 
with judgment ? Of Christ it was declared : *^ He 
shall not judge after the seeing of his eyes, nor re- 
prove after the hearing of his ears ; but with right- 
eousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with 
equity for the meek of the earth." He discerns at 
first view a Nathaniel and a Judas, and will separate 
the righteous and the wicked. And what are the 
wise speeches of Solomon to those of Jesus Christ, 
by whose spirit the whole scriptures were dictated, 
and Solomon himself inspired '? 

To the wisdom let us subjoin the wealth of Solo- 
mon, who made even silver in Jerusalem, as the 
stones of the street. But how shall this agree to our 
Lord Jesus who was himself a poor man, without a 
fixed dwelling place, and whose followers, most gen- 



THE HISTORY OF SOLOMON. 83 

erally, are the poor among men 1 True indeed he 
neither possessed the liches of tlie world himself, 
nor can his subjects boast that they have amassed 
huge quantities of white and yellow earth, called sil- 
ver and gold : yet are thy liches, Lord Jesus, un- 
searchable; eternity itself is too short to count them. 
The arithmetic of angels would not be able to cast 
up the mighty sum. These riches hast thou pur- 
chased by thy poverty, and what is said of money, 
we still more truly affirm of thy inexhaustible ful- 
ness, " It answers all things." If Solomon made 
silver as the stones, Jesus Christ renders the most 
admirable vanities of the world but loss and dung. 
O the immense value of the riches of Christ, of whom 
it is said in the prophet, " For brass I will bring 
gold, for iron silver, for wood brass, and for stones 
iron?" Even such amazing wealth is scarcely fit to 
be an emblem of the true riches : for a New Testa- 
ment writer rises in the description, and talks of a 
city whose habitations are kings, whose walls are 
jasper, whose gates are pearls, whose streets are 
paved with gold ! Here that precious metal on which 
the men of the world set their hearts, is trodden with 
the feet. How diminutive is the splendor of earthly 
courts ! how despicable is a Solomon, though seated 
on his ivory throne, in comparison of such stupen- 
dous magnificence, which nevfer indeed existed in 
the world of nature, but has a true, though spiritual 
existence in the kingdom of Jesus Christ ! To con- 
clude then, as the wisdom of Solomon was but folly 
to the wisdom of Jesus Chi'ist ; so, in comparison 
of his riches, his wealth was poverty. 

From his wisdom and wealth, let us come to the 
extent of his dominion, which we are told was very 
wide. And if in the multitude of people is the king's 
honor, the King Messiah, equals and far excels the 
king of Israel. What was it to reign over all king- 
doms from the Euphrates to the midland sea, and to 



84 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

the corner of Egypt, to his extensive sway, whose 
kingdom rules over all i 

But what was a most singular recommendation of 
Solomon's happy reign, for the most part it was not 
disturbed either with civil jars, or foreign war : for, 
as his name imported, he was a man of rest, and, 
except towards the latter end of his days, his sub- 
jects enjoyed the most profound tranquillity. This 
was designed to be a faint representation of the gov- 
ernment of the Prince of peace, whose Gospel is a 
doctrine which, if sincerely believed, effectually re- 
conciles men to God and one another. Therefore 
the ancient prophets, speaking in these peaceful 
times when the Messiah should reign, have collected 
the most striking and amiable images of peace that 
can well be conceived. They talk of nations beating 
their swords into plough-shares, and their spears into 
pruning hooks — that arts of death and mutual des- 
truction shall no more be learned as an useful 
science : — that the most ravenous beasts shall be as 
tame as those with which mankind are most familiar ; 
— that the most envenomed serpent shall cease to 
be pernicious ; — that bows and swords, and such 
like instruments of death, shall cease out of the 
earth, and the odious din of battle shall be heard no 
more. If now these charming prophecies have not 
received their full Accomplishment, our wars and 
fightings, O Prince of Peace ! are not the native re- 
sult of the Gospel, but they come from the lusts that 
war in our members. To this original may they all 
be traced. O shame to men who are called by the 
Christian name, to act a part so unlike their sacred 
profession, by waging horrid wars with one another, 
and rejoicing in mutual slaughter, make their swords 
drunk with blood ! Nevertheless, we, according to 
his promise, expect more happy times, when the 
import of the predictions shall be more fully known, 
and of the increase of his government and peace 



THE HISTORY OF SOLOMON. 85 

there shall be no end. For here indeed the order is 
inverted in Solomon and his antitype. Whereas the 
beginning of Solomon's administration was the most 
peaceable part of it, the latter end of the Messiah's 
government shall be the most serene and happy 
period. 

To pass over the foreign match of the Israelitish 
monarch which some have supposed a prelude of 
calling the Gentile church to the fellowship of Jesus 
Christ ; we shall only take notice of the magnificence 
of Solomon's building. He was pitched upon by the 
great God to build an house for his name : and, un- 
der his direction, that sacred structure was reared 
at an immense charge. The workmen were for- 
eigners, and many of the materials fetched from 
abroad. The stones being all prepared and fitted 
to each other before-hand, the noise of hammers was 
not heard as the building advance. Who knows not 
that the ancient temple was a figure of the church 
which is his body ? Christ Jesus is the true Solomon, 
who builds this holy and beautiful house, not with 
dead, but with living stones, which are hewed by 
the law, and polished by the Gospel ; and being thus 
fitly framed, they become a spiritual building, and 
grow into an holy temple in the Lord. Even sinners 
of the Gentiles are employed in this honorable work 
of building up the church, and of them it may be 
said, " Ye are God's building." The doctrine of 
the apostles and prophets is the foundation, and 
Jesus Christ himself the chief corner-stone. 



XII. THE HISTORY OF JONAH. 

The comparison which our Lord was pleased to 
make of himself and the prophet Jonah, when an 
evil and adulterous generation sought after a sign 

5* 



86 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

from heaven, forbids us to pass over in silence this 
short but strange history, which is doubtless one of 
theee passages in the Old Testament to which the 
apostle refers, when he speaks of Christ's dying for 
our sins, according to the Scriptures, and being bur- 
ied and rising again the third day ; according to the 
Scriptures : " For as Jonas was three days and three 
nights in the whale's belly, so was the Son of man 
three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." 
That we may have the fuller view of the resem- 
blance, let us briefly recollect what we are told of 
this prophet in the book denominated from him. He 
is charged with a commission by the gi'eat God to 
denounce the vengeance of Heaven against the great 
and sinful city of Nineveh, the metropolis of the 
mighty Assyrian empire. This is the first time we 
read of a prophet sent to reform a Gentile nation, 
and doubtless was a prelude of his granting to the 
Gentiles in future times repentance unto life. It 
was God who commanded, and the prophet ought 
to have been all submission. But as Simon the son 
of Jonas long after disputed the command of God 
when he was sent for the first time to preach unto 
the Gentiles; so Jonas though a prophet of the Lord, 
who ought to have known better things, resolves to 
play the fugitive, and, like Cain, to go out from the 
presence of the Lord, and be an exile from the church 
w^here God was worshipped, expecting to hear no 
more such troublesome orders from above, if he was 
once on some foreign ground. He finds at Joppa 
a ship bound for Tarshish, and thinking it a fair op- 
portunity of carrying his scheme into execution, he 
enters himself a passenger. But, ye mariners, little 
did you think what a dangerous cargo you were 
taking on board ; for soon a tempest from the Lord 
embroils the ocean, and death sits threatening on 
every wave. Eveiy mariner betakes himself to his 
prayers : but Jonas, the cause of the storm, is fast 



THE HISTORY OF JONAH. 87 

asleep. He is seasonably reproved by the master 
of the ship &r his untimely security, and earnestly 
invited to join with them in calling also upon his 
God. A good advice to be sure : but, alas, Jonah's 
heart condemned him, and though his God was the 
God of Gods, he had little ground to hope that his 
prayer would be heard. Alas ! the guilty person 
was most unfit to become a mediator for the rest of 
the crew. They lightly judged, that this preternat- 
ural storm was sent by angiy heaven to punish some 
notorious offender ; it was put into their he aits to 
find out by lot who he was. And O surprising ! a 
professor of true religion, and a prophet of the Lord, 
is singled out, in a crew of heathen sailors as the 
greatest sinner in the ship. His iniquity which he 
thought to have kept a profound secret, is revealed 
in the most public manner, and himself is obliged to 
confess his crime at large, that being a servant and 
a prophet of the God who made heaven and eaith, 
and the sea, and the dry land, he had presumed to 
fly his presence, and disobey his positive command. 
What shall they do ] Their case seems desperate. 
They ask his counsel whom they now esteemed a 
prophet. And, though at the expense of his life, he 
gives them the best direction could be thought of — 
to cast himself forth into the sea. But though he 
was willing to die, the good natured mariners were 
not willing to put him to death, till they had exerted 
their utmost efforts to save themselves and him. Till 
at last they found their labor in vain, and with great 
reluctance they heaved overboard the guilty prophet, 
having first fervently deprecated the guilt of his 
blood. And now at last the tempest ceased to roar, 
and the sea laid aside its rage, when the criminal 
they demanded was surrendered to the ocean ; which 
had such a good effect upon the mariners, as, it is 
hoped, they proved sincere worshippers of the true 
God, whom the winds and seas obey. Who would 



88 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

expect to hear of Jonas any more ! but, strange to 
say ! a huge fish, which the creator had commanded 
to be ready, receives the astonished prophet in its 
belly, where he lives three days and three nights, 
being supported by an almighty power. In this 
dreary mansion he finds time to meditate his past 
folly, and cry unto the Lord in the language of sin- 
cere repentance. And after he had been sufiiciently 
punished, the obedient fish returns him safe and 
sound on dry land on the third day. The commis- 
sion is renewed ; and, wiser than before, he obeys, 
goes to Nineveh, and preaches the doctrine of repen- 
tance, threatens them with destruction in forty days. 
The men of Nineveh repent, and God also delays to 
strike the blow, and repented him of the evil. 

But what we intend chiefly to observe in the whole 
of this uncommon transaction ; a greater than Jonas 
is here pointed forth in his death, burial, resurrec- 
tion, and preaching to the Gentiles. 

The casting forth of Jonah into the sea bears no 
small resemblance to the death of Christ, though in 
some circumstances there is a considerable differ- 
ence : for the prophet Jonah was, for his own offen- 
ces, delivered into the hands of mariners, who, with- 
out being guilty of murder, or thirst after his blood, 
did with great reluctance, throw him overboard for 
their own preservation, earnestly beseeching that his 
blood might not be laid unto their charge; but Jesus 
Christ being delivered, not for his own, but our of- 
fences, unto the Jews and Gentiles, was taken, cru- 
cified» and slain with wicked hands, while his bloody 
murderers imprecated the direful vengeance of his 
innocent blood to be on them and their children. 
In other respects the case of Christ and Jonas was 
more alike. With his own consent the prophet is 
cast forth into the sea, after he had acknowledged 
that himself was the man for whose cause the storm 
was sent, and whom the angry ocean demanded ; so 



THE HISTOY OF JONAH. 89 

Jesus Christ laid down his life in the most voluntary 
manner, and boldly offered himself to the multitude 
who were sent to apprehend him, saying, ** I am the 
man whom ye seek ; and if ye seek me, let these go 
their way." And as the sufferings of the prophet, 
who was plunged into the ocean, were attended with 
the most happy consequences, the stilling of the tem- 
pest, the preservation of their lives, and as is hoped, 
the salvation of their souls ; even so, when Jesus the 
Son of God expired on the cross, this event, though 
in appearance tragical, was productive of the most 
blessed effects, appeasing the tempest of God's an- 
ger, and saving from destruction the many for whom 
he gave his life a ransom, some of whom were the 
instruments of his death. 

His lodging in the belly of the fish three days and 
nights, most certainly coiTesponds to the burialof our 
Redeemer in the gi-ave, a part of three natural days. 
Never did that monster of the deep swallow such a 
morsel before. Nor did ever the grave enclose such 
a prisoner as Jesus was. Jonah, it is ti'ue, was not 
really dead, as Christ was, when in the heart of the 
earth : but as that dismal place of darkness and cor- 
ruption did much resemble the gloomy horrors of 
the loathsome grave, and is even styled the belly of 
hell by the prophet himself; perhaps the circum- 
stance of Jonah's being alive in that living sepul- 
chre, may put us in mind, that Jesus Christ was the 
living God, even when he was a dead man ; for O 
death, you was able indeed to rend his soul and 
body from one another, but neither soul nor body 
were dissevered from his di\dne person. And as 
Jonah received no harm in that horrible prison, 
(which was miraculous, if we consider the strength 
and heat in the stomach of so large a creature ;) so 
Jesus Christ, when lying in the grave a pale and 
bloody corpse, saw no corruption. 

His casting forth on diy land on the third day af- 



90 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

ter his imprisonment, at the commandment of the 
Lord, answers to the resuiTjection of the Son of God, 
who at the commandment of his Father, was on the 
third day taken from prison, and from judgment. 
When Jonah was saved from the fish, he was also 
saved from the sea, revisiting at once the Hght of day 
and the dry land. When Christ was rescued from 
the grave, he at the same time emerged from under 
those billows of his father's wrath which all passed 
over his head. It was not possible that Jonah should 
be detained in his ugly dungeon when the Lord spake 
unto the fish. It was not possible that Christ should 
be held by the cords of death longer than the ap- 
pointed time ; and he may truly say, " Thou hast 
brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my 
God." Nevertheless, in all things Jesus must have 
the pre-eminence, and we must certainly acknow^l- 
edge, that a greater than Jonas is here. For whereas 
Jonas did not contribute in the least towards his own 
restoration, but would have forever continued in that 
melancholy prison, if he had not been miraculously 
delivered from it ; our Redeemer, on the other hand, 
as he had power to lay down his life so he had pow- 
er to take it again. The fish that swallowed Jonah 
might, for aught we know, receive as little harm by 
the prophet, as the prophet by the fish ; But O 
grave, he was thy destruction. This hungry mon- 
ster had gorged all the race of Adam and never said, 
It is enough. Never any descended into the grave 
but it was able to digest them, till Jesus Christ died 
and was buried. This grand devourer snatched the 
bait of his human body, was not aware of the hook 
of his divinity, and was forced to surrender her prey, 
having received such a deadly wound as never shall 
be healed. 

His preaching to the Ninevites, and saving them 
from imminent destruction, corresponds to Jesus 
Christ, his preaching to the Gentiles by his apostles 



THE HISTORY OF JONAH. 91 

after his resun-ection from the dead. For the gra- 
cious design of presei'\dng a guilty city, by turning 
them from their evil ways, was the prophet preserved 
in the monster's belly, and revisiting the light on the 
third day. And for the same merciful purpose was 
Jesus raised from the dead, to save a guilty world 
from death, and to bless them, in turning every one 
of them from their iniquities. The belief those poor 
Gentiles gave to the threatening prophet, and their 
speedy repentance was it not a prelude of that quick 
reception the doctrine of Jesus Christ should meet 
with among them that were aliens from the com- 
monwealth of Israel ] On this occasion the prophet 
acted a most unworthy part, and evidenced a greater 
regard to his own reputation than the salvation of 
his hearers. Sure never man suited his name worse ; 
for he is more like a vulture than a dove. In this 
Jonah is not a type of Jesus Christ, who wept over 
Jerusalem, not because they repented, but because 
they repented not, and knew not the things that be- 
longed to their eternal peace. On this account, as 
well as those formerly mentioned, we may truly say, 
that a greater than Jonas u here. 



BOOK II. 

TYPICAL THINGS. 
L THE VISION OF JACOB'S LADDER. 

In the multitude of dreams there wants not divers 
vanities ; yet God is also in sleep, and has conveyed 
to the human mind notices of the last importance in 
a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep 
falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed ; so 
great is that power he has over us, both when we 
wake, and when we sleep. A pregnant instance of 
this we have in Jacob's night-vision, which God 
granted unto him in Bethel, to cheer his drooping 
heart, when he wandered all solitary, an exile from 
his father's house, to avoid the resentment of his 
brother. The sun was set, and the lonely traveller 
not being able to reach the next town, or on some 
other account, not known to us, resolves for one 
night to make the great God his landlord, the earth 
his bed, the stones his bolster, and the canopy of 
heaven his covering ; for though he was delicately 
brought up by his fond mother, whose darling child 
he was, the tender usage he received had not so far 
unmanned him, as to betray undue softness and ef- 
feminacy ; for upon this occasion he could put up 
with very coarse accommodation. There is no 
doubt his working mind would be fertile of melan- 
choly thoughts, as he lay thus in the open air, ex- 
posed to the chill damps of the night and other 
dangers. Perhaps he might compare his dismal 
solitude with the happier lot of Esau, who was en- 
joying himself at home with his father. Who 



VISION OF JACOB'S LADDER. 93 

knows but he might begin to think, that the birth- 
right and blessing he was so fond of obtaining, were 
not such great matters, as that he needed for their 
sakes to have exposed himself to such hardships as 
he presently felt, and might still expect to meet 
with ] But if any such pensive thoughts disturbed 
his mind, they are soon chased away by the welcome 
approach of sleep, and the delightful vision he saw, 
together with the friendly words he seemed to hear 
from the mouth of God himself; for "he dreamed, 
and behold, a ladder, the top of it reached to heaven, 
and the foot of it w^as set upon the earth : and be- 
hold, the angels of God ascending and descending 
upon it. And behold the Lord stood above it," not 
silent, but speaking words full of inexpressible con- 
solation. The meaning of this emblem is the pre- 
sent subject of our thoughts : and perhaps it will be 
found, on a nearer inspection, both to represent the 
mystery of Providence and of Redemption. 

And, first. It was a vision of providence, and 
might be intended to suggest to the patriarch's mind 
the following important and interesting truths. That 
though God be in the heights above, he forgets not 
the affairs of mortals below, as though the interpo- 
sing clouds could veil them from his sight, or the 
huge distance of heaven and earth could be an ob- 
jection against his superintending care. That 
though he is able, by himself alone, to govern the 
whole world, without the help of any created beings 
whatever ; yet he is pleased to use the ministry of 
angels, which walk invisibly through the earth, and 
are continually passing from heaven to earth, to ful- 
fil the pleasure of Jehovah, and from earth to heav- 
en, to receive the commands of their eternal Sove- 
reign. That the regards of Providence, and the 
kindly offices of these spiritual creatures, are not 
confined to large societies, and the grand revolutions 
that happen in the world, but are even extended to 



94 TYPICAL THINGS. 

the most private interests of every individual ; for 
none but Jacob vv^as present in the place w^here the 
ladder seemed to stand. And lastly, that the divine 
Providence exercises the most tender care v^hen 
one's situation is most deplorable, destitute, and af- 
flictive ; for Jacob saw this vision, w^hen his head 
was lying hard, and his heart perhaps tormented 
with anxious care, when he was leaving a kind 
mother, a religious father, and the place where he 
was born and educated, uncertain of the reception 
he would meet with from his relations, or if he 
should ever see his dear parents any more. But as 
his affliction abounded his consolation did much 
more abound. 

But, perhaps, we shall not think amiss, though we 
consider this emblematical ladder as a figure of the 
Messiah himself, who is the blessed medium of com- 
munication between heaven and earth — the way 
without which no man comes to the Father — and 
the one Mediator between God and man. We can 
scarcely find a fitter explication of what Christ him- 
self promised to Nathaniel, that Israelite indeed, 
** Hereafter ye shall see the heaven open, and the 
angels of God ascending and descending upon the 
Son of man," than by comparing it with this wond- 
erful ladder, which he seems to hint was himself. 
And there is no contemptible analogy. For, first, 
Whereas, the foot of this ladder was on earth, and 
the top reached to heaven, this may both represent 
what is the constitution of his person, and what are 
the blessed fruits of the mediatorial interposition. 
As the ladder seemed to unite the heaven and earth, 
the most distant extremes ; so the person of Im- 
manuel unites the human nature and the divine, 
though the distance between them is infinitely great. 
And as the ladder opened a path from God to man, 
and from man to God, by reaching from heaven to 
eart:h ; so the mediation of Jesus Christ has paved 



VISION OF THE BURNING BUSH. 95 

a way both for the approach of the Deity to sinners, 
that he may dwell with them, and for the access of 
sinners unto God, that they may dwell with him, 
and have their conversation in heaven. O merciful 
and faithful High Priest, by thy incarnation and 
satisfaction, a friendly correspondence is established 
between the heaven and eaith ; for thou hast laid 
thy hand upon us both, and art thyself our new and 
living way to everlasting bliss, and the channel of 
conveyance to every spiritual blessing. Whereas 
the angels of God were seen to ascend and descend 
upon the ladder, this may both signify that in Jesus 
Christ angels and men shall be united in one society: 
and that by Jesus Christ they are upheld from falling; 
and supported in their happy state. Were they not 
the friends of men, why should they be represented 
as running on our errands ] Were they not con- 
firmed and supported by Jesus our Mediator, why 
should spiritual beings, and winged messengers, be 
said to ascend and descend upon the Son of man, as 
on a ladder I AVhereas the Lord stood above this 
ladder, and from its top spoke good and comfortable 
words to his servant Jacob, confirming the gracious 
covenant made with his fathers ; is not this a clear 
intimation, that God is in Christ reconciling the 
world unto himself, confirming his covenant, and 
uttering his gracious promise as well pleased in his 
beloved Son. Whereas Jacob alone was at the foot 
of the ladder, on whose top the Lord seemed to 
stand ; might not this have been considered by the 
adoring patriarch, after he awoke, as a comfortable 
intimation, that the glorious person who was signi- 
fied by the vision, should spring out of his loins, 
and be made of his seed according to the flesh, as 
the true possessor of the birthright, and inheritor of 
the patriarchal blessing. And, lastly. Whereas, he 
saw but one ladder, Jesus Christ, is the alone Med- 
iator, without whom the Father comes to no man, 
and no man comes to the Father. 



96 



II. THE VISION OF THE BURNING BUSH. 

The last emblematical vision was seen in a night- 
dream by Jacob, but that which we are now to con- 
sider was showed unto Moses in th« day-time, when 
he was broad awake. This future lawgiver was 
now of a prince in Egypt, become a shepherd in 
Midian ; and as it was the purpose of God to send 
him to Pharaoh with a commission to demand the 
release of his oppressed people, he was pleased to 
grant him an illustrious manifestation or prodigy, 
to rouse his attention to what God should speak, 
and to presage the success of his negotiation, and 
his own future dignity. At the time when he saw 
the heavenly vision, he was tending the flock of 
Jethro, as honest industry and the moderate exer- 
cise of the thoughts about the lawful affairs of the 
world, is no obstruction to divine communications. 
And the place in which he received it may be 
worthy of our notice : he led his flock to the back 
side of the desert, and came to the mountain of 
God, even to Horeb ; for solitude and retirement 
from the hurry of the world, has always been a 
friend to holy meditation, and intercourse with God. 
So Moses found on this occasion : for the angel of 
the Lord, not a created angel, but the uncreated 
Angel of the covenant, who assumed to himself the 
high title of " the God of Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob," and I am that I am, and who required of 
Moses the tokens of the most profound respect and 
religious subjections ; — to be short the Messias him- 
self appeared in a flame of fire out of the midst of 
a bush ; and <* behold the bush burned with fire, yet 
was not consumed." The novelty of the sight in- 
duced him to satisfy his curiosity by a nearer ap- 
proach ; but he was stopped short by the voice of 
God, which suflficiently explained the prodigy. 



VISION OF THE BURNING BUSH. 97 

Should it now be inquired, why the divine Majesty 
chose to appear in this manner ] Though we could 
assign no other reason but his sovereign pleasure, 
it were sufficient. But most generally, the appear- 
ances and manifestations of the Deity, in that age 
of types, were vouchsafed in such a manner as to 
represent some hidden mystery, or important doc- 
trine of the Gospel. They who think that the flame 
of fire might signify the pure and spiritual nature of 
God, who appeared in it, of which no similitude 
can be made, are certainly not mistaken. And it is 
also not unfitly obseiTed, that the burning bush 
may represent the state of Israel at that time, who 
were entangled in the thorny bush of adversity, and 
encompassed with the fire of affliction, in which 
they were like to be consumed. But let us draw 
near, and consider with Moses this great sight with 
.a closer attention; and perhaps it will be found a 
most significant emblem, both of Jesus Christ, who 
was in the bush, and of the Church which is his 
body, in every age of the world. 

And, first, It seems very probable that this was a 
prelusive vision both of the future incarnation and 
sufferings of Jesus Christ. That the bush may re- 
present his human nature, is not unlikely, especially 
as the prophet Esaias compares him to a tender 
plant, and root out of a dry ground, in which, to the 
eye of sense, no form, comeliness, or beauty shall be 
found. That the flame of fire may adumbrate his 
divine nature, will be no less evident, when we con- 
sider how ofl:en the fiery element, is, in the Scrip- 
ture style, an emblem, of the Deity ; yea it is ex- 
pressly said, " Our God is a consuming fire." That 
the union of the flame of fire with the bush may 
denote the union of the Godhead and the manhood, 
is not at all absurd to suppose ; for why should 
Moses in his dying benediction be directed to speak 
of the good-will of him ivho dwelt in the hush! May 



98 TYPICAL THINGS. 

it not signify, that the continuance of the flame of 
fire in the bush for a short time, was a type of the 
fulness of the Godhead dwelling for ever in the man 
Christ Jesus ] As the bush was in the fire, and the 
fire was in the bush, yet still they were distinct 
things, though enjoined thus in one : even so the 
man Christ Jesus is in the God, and the God is in 
the man, though both these natures, so mysteriously 
united, do still retain their own distinct properties. 
And if Moses was struck with admiration, that the 
bush was not consumed, though in such near 
neighborhood with ruddy flame : much more may 
we be overwhelmed with amazement, to think how 
a portion of our frail humanity lives forever in a 
state of the nearest approach unto, and most inef- 
fable union with the glorious Godhead, in whose 
unveiled presence we mortals could not live, and 
even the angels cover their faces with their wings. 
Here also may be discerned a shadow of those 
direful sufferings by which the Son of God was to 
expiate our sin. For the wrath of God is every 
where in Scripture compared to fire, the most fierce 
and dreadful of all the inanimate creatures, which 
wdth severe impartiality, devours all combustible 
things. Who of all the human race could dwell 
with this devouring element ? Far less could any 
abide with the everlasting burnings of the Almighty's 
indignation. But Jesus Christ who dwelt in the 
bush, dwelt also with these fierce flames : and 
though he endured the wrath of God, which flamed 
most intently against him, as he bore the sins of 
many, though he was compassed by this fire all the 
days of his humbled life ; yet he was not consumed, 
because, liis Deity, like the angel in the bush, sup- 
ported by his humanity, and bade him be a glorious 
conqueror. 

From the sufferings of the head, let us descend 
to the sufferings of the body, who are predestinated 



VISION OF THE BURNING BUSH. 99 

to be conformed to his image. Let the bush be an 
emblem of the church, to which it may be compared 
on account of its weak, obscure, and contemptible 
state in the esteem of worldly men, who are taken 
with nothing but what dazzles the eye of sense. 
For though there is a real glory and a spiritual mag- 
nificence in this holy society, she cannot compete 
with eaithly kingdoms in outward splendor, any 
more than a bush in the wilderness can vie with the 
cedar in Lebanon ; for besides the paucity of her true 
members, they are commonly to be found rather in 
smoky cottages than proud palaces ; and sometimes 
they have been found 'in prisons, dungeons, dens, 
and caves of the earth. Let the fire in which the 
bush burned, signify the fiery trials to which the 
Church has been no stranger in all ages. Sometimes 
she has burned in the fire of pei*secution, and some- 
times of division. But as the bush was not consum- 
ed, so neither shall the Church be finally destroyed. 
In vain shall the great red dragon persecute this wo- 
man clothed with the sun, and watch to devour her 
offspring ; for a place is prepared for her in the wil- 
derness by the great God, and there no necessary 
provision shall be wanting. How many times have 
bloody and deceitful men conspired her destruction ] 
When were incendiaries wanting to foment and kin- 
dle those fires, which, without the immediate inter- 
position of the Keeper of Israel, would certainly 
have wasted unto destruction, and completed the ut- 
ter extinction of this humble bush ! What society 
but this alone could have subsisted to this day, in the 
midst of a hating world ] Who are now the migh- 
ty empires of antiquity ] They are but an empty 
name, live only in history, have fallen to pieces by 
their own weight, or been crushed by bloody war. 
But the Church of Christ, though she has undergone 
many revolutions, remains, and will remain, when 
the consumption determined by the Lord of hosts 
sliall come upon all the earth. 



100 TYPICAL THINGS. 

Ask you the reason ] The angel of the Lord is 
in the bush, and though persecuted, she is not forsa- 
ken ; therefore shall the fiery trials, instead of con- 
suming her, sei've to refine her, and add unto her 
glory, as the bush was only brightened by the flame. 

Does not the famous history of the three Hebrew 
worthies, who by faith, quenched the violence of 
fire, attest this whole matter in the most literal 
sense. Nebuchadnezzar, the mighty king, takes it 
into his head to erect a monstrous golden image, to 
be worshipped by all his numerous subjects. The 
dedication of this new god is celebrated by a prodig- 
ious concourse of people, who by the king's proc- 
lamation, assembled in the plains of Dura. A severe 
edict is issued forth against any person who should 
refuse to pay religious homage to the molten deity. 
He must be cast alive into a burning fire ; for was it 
ever heard that cruelty and idolatry were separated ? 
The noise of every musical instrument is the signal 
for beginning the detestable rites of adoration. 
What a parade to establish this silly superstition ! 
And now the music sounds, see how the foolish peo- 
ple fall down in adoration to a senseless statue ! Yet 
there are found among the captives of Judah, who 
dare dispute the royal order. O faith, how dost thou 
extend thy triumphs ! Who can sufiiciently admire 
the excellent spirit, and the undaunted resolution of 
these heroes ] They stand before a sovereign and 
angry majesty, they see the vast pomp of his courtiers, 
they hear the sonorous peals of the music sent from 
a thousand instruments, they behold the prodigious 
furnace gleaming to the clouds : yet are they not 
apalled by any, by all of these things, so apt to stiike 
ten'or into vulgar minds, but despise them as ludi- 
crous and puerile. They boldly tell, that the God 
they adored, was able to deliver them from his fur- 
nace, if he pleased ; and though he should not, they 
would not comply to worship another God. The 



VISION OF THE BURNING BlTSH. 101 

music that resounded through all the spacious plain 
was not half so melodious as their answer to the king's 
menaces. The enraged tyrant orders, and without 
delay they are cast bound hand and foot into the 
burning flame. But mark the amazing event ! A 
marvellous thing is presented to the eyes of the king; 
for looking narrowly, he beholds not three men melt- 
ing, but four men v/alking in the fire, and the form 
of the fourth is like the Son of God. These servants 
of the Lord were not ashamed of him, nor is he 
ashamed of them, but descends in a bodily shape, 
(a prelude of his incarnation,) looses their fetters, 
makes a covenant for them with the flames of fire, 
and walking with them openly in the furnace, pro- 
claims to all spectators, " Inasmuch as ye have done 
it unto these my brethren, you did it unto me.'' Go 
now, mighty monarch, and glory in thy despotic 
sway ; but remember there is a King more sovereign 
than thou, who can make the flames of fire harmless 
as the morning light ; who can bid that fierce and 
dreadful element spare them whom thou biddest it 
to devour, though in the very heart of the oven, and 
destroy them whom thou wished it would not touch, 
though standing without. Thus wherein any deals 
proudly, God is above them. The king and all his 
counsellors, see with their eyes this extraordinary 
miracle, and that the faithful servant of God had not 
received the least damage by the fire, and are 
ashamed for their envy to the people. Thus was 
the promise fulfilled, " When thou walkest through 
fire, thou shalt not be burned ; neither shall the flame 
kindle upon thee." And so the bush, though burn- 
ing, is not consumed in the fire. 

6 



102 



III. THE PILLAR OF CLOUD AND FIRE. 

The sojourners of Goshen were now escaped from 
the land of Egypt, and about to enter into the vast 
wilderness of Arabia, that interposed betwixt them 
and the promised land. The Lord, who makes the 
clouds his chariot, and darkness his pavilion, was 
pleased to go before them in a marvellous pile of 
cloudy vapors, resembling a pillar, ascending from 
their camp. Here he dwelt, not for a short time, as 
in the bush, but for the space of forty years. A most 
extraordinary thing to be sure it was, and none of 
the least of the standing miracles which he showed 
to the chosen seed. The fame of this strange phe- 
nomenon was spread abroad among the nations, who 
heard that the cloud of the Lord stood above them, 
and might very well be supposed to move the ques- 
tion, ** Who is this that comes up from the wilder- 
ness like pillars of smoke V^ For this cloud differed 
so much from all others that ever were seen, as it 
may justly be reckoned a complication of miracles. 
It was miraculous, that its form was never changed, 
when there is nothing more variable than the ap- 
pearance of the ordinary clouds that sail through 
the airy regions. It was miraculous, that it should 
always maintain its station over the tabernacle, when 
other clouds are carried about by tempests, and driv- 
en with fierce winds from the one extremity of hea- 
ven to the other. It was miraculous, that it should 
preserve its consistency forty years ; whereas all 
other clouds are dissipated by the wind, exhaled by 
the sun, or dissolved in rain and dew, and in a very 
short time are blotted from the face of the sky. It 
was miraculous, that this cloud should move in such 
a peculiar direction, as it had been endued with in- 
stinct and intelligence ; for it was earned about by 
his counsels in a more immediate way than can be 



PILLAR OF CLOUD AND FIRE. 103 

said of the other clouds of heaven. But especially 
it was miraculous, that contrary to the nature of all 
other clouds, it should be brighter by night than by 
day, when it had the appearance of the shining of a 
flaming fire. 

As to the particular meaning of this cloud where- 
with the Lord covered his Israel, not in his anger, 
but in his love. It was without all doubt a visible 
symbol of a present Deity. God hereby condescend- 
ing to adapt himself, as in many other things, to the 
«yrude taste of that ancient people, and perhaps to 
signify the dark and cloudy nature of the legal dis- 
pensation under which they were. But the princi- 
pal reason I would suggest is the following. His 
appealing to Israel in a veil of cloud, might be a 
prelude of his appearing in a veil of flesh. What 
though we should say, this pillar of cloud and fire is 
an emblem of that glorious Person in whom the 
brightness of Divinity is joined with the darkness of 
humanity ! For as there were not two pillars, the one 
cloud and the other of fire, but one pillar both of 
cloud and fire ; so there are not two persons of Im- 
manuel, the one Qod and the other man, but one 
Person, who is both God and man. An adorable 
mystery this, strang:e indeed, and beyond measure 
surprising: but it is so far from being only a vain 
speculation, that it is deservedly esteemed a fun- 
damental article of the Christian faith ; and truly 
without admitting it, the scriptures themselves will 
be darker than this cloud ever was to the Egyptians. 
John, the beloved apostle, and gi'eat New Testa- 
ment prophet, who saw the visions of God, and who 
talks in many places in the Old Testament dialect, 
speaks of a glorious angel arising out of the East, 
who certainly was Christ himself, he was clothed 
with a cloud, and his feet were as pillars of fire. A 
description which might very probably allude to 
this same cloud and fire. But if we take a more 



104 TYPICAL THINGS. 

particular survey of the uses for which it served in 
the v\^ilderness, we shall see with what admirable 
propriety they all may be affirmed of Jesus Christ, 
who, indeed, was the angel that resided in the cloud 
and is that unto his Church in every age, in their 
bewildered state, which the cloud was to the twelve 
tribes, till they reached the earthly Canaan. In 
whom but Jesus Christ can we suppose that great 
and precious promise made to the universal church 
to have received its accomplishment, *' And the Lord 
will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, 
and upon all her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by 
day, and the shining of a flame of fire by night : for up- 
on all the glory shall be a defence '?" What then were 
those uses for which this cloud sei'ved the Israelites ] 
It was their guide that went before them in the 
vast pathless desert, where they wandered in a soli- 
tary way. So great was the regard they paid to all 
its motions which they continually watched, that 
when it moved they struck their camp at any hour 
of the day or of the night, when it halted they pitched 
their tents, and there abode till its next remove, 
whether the time was short or long. The times and 
seasons of their marching were not, as in other ar- 
mies, adjusted by their counsels of war, nor left to 
the regulation even of Moses himself; for God put 
them wholly in his own power. However, it would 
appear that its motions were properly timed, and 
mercifully proportioned to the strength of the weak, 
and the conveniency of all. Nor did it ever leave 
them, for all their provocations in the wilderness, 
till they arrived at the land that flowed with milk 
and honey. Just such a general, unerring, gentle, 
and perpetual guide is Jesus Christ by his example, 
word and Spirit, to all the travellers for the better 
country through the wilderness of this world ; for it 
is not in man that tcalks to direct his steps by his own 
wisdom, in the way that leads to life. Who can re- 



PILLAR OF CLOUD AND FIRE. 105 

count the wanderings of miserable sinners, till Jesus 
Christ was given a leader and a commander to the 
people ] He it is who teaches to profit, and leads in 
the way wherein we should go. Nor is it possible 
that any should miss eternal glory, who walk after 
him in the wilderness, conforming themselves to the 
dictates of his holy word, with the same care the 
Israelites observed the motions of the miraculous 
cloud. O ye followers of the Lamb, you shall not 
err under the conduct of your celestial guide ; you 
shall be led forth in the way that is right, even where 
there is no way, till you come to the city of habita- 
tion. 

It was their guard that protected them, when their 
Egyptian pursuers were pressing on their rear ; for 
it removed on that occasion from their van, and went 
behind them, forbidding by its darkness the approach 
of the hostile army all that night through which they 
travelled through the flood on foot. On this occa- 
sion we are told, that the Lord looked through the 
pillar, and troubled the Egyptian host at the hour of 
midnight. " The waters saw thee, O God, the wa- 
ters saw thee : they were afraid ; the depths also 
were troubled. The clouds poured out water, the 
skies sent out a sound : thine arrows went abroad. 
The voice of thy thunder was in the heavens ; thy 
lightnings lightened the world, the earth trembled 
and shook. Thy way was in the sea, thy path in 
the mighty waters, and thy footsteps were not known. 
Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of 
Moses and Aaron." Such is that protection Jesus 
affords to his militant people, who being rescued 
from the bondage of sin, are marching forward to 
their goodly inheritance. Though Satan, with his 
infernal host, like the tyrant of Egypt, pursues after 
them, and fondly thinks to reclaim the lawful cap- 
tives, the glory of the Lord becomes their rear- ward, 
Jesus is unto them for walls and bulwarks, forbid- 



106 TYPICAL THINGS. 

ding the approach of mortal danger. He is their 
hiding place, in whom they are preserved, like Is- 
rael in the cloud, being kept by the power of God 
through faith unto salvation. 

It was their candle that enlightened their darkness, 
that smoothed the rugged brow of the night, and 
served to abate the horrors of the wilderness after 
the sun was set ; for it reserved its shining appear- 
ance to the season when the Israelites were most in 
need of its cheerful aspect. Nor dost thou, O thou 
true light, suit thyself to the case of thy people with 
less condescencion. Without thee this world were 
a dark place, and, to the eyes of our mind, more dis- 
mal than the dreary wilderness would have been in 
the blackest night to the Israelites, without their kind 
officious cloud. Blessed be God for the sun, the 
moon, the stars, but more for Jesus Christ, who de- 
livers from the blackness of darkness for ever, and 
who, like the cloudy pillar, is always most liberal of 
his lightsome manifestations, when his people are 
sitting in the darkness of adversity. House of Isra- 
el, let us walk in the light of the Lord, whilst the 
way of the wicked, like the way of the Egyptians is 
as darkness. 

It was their umbrella or screen to shade them 
from the sultry beams of the sun in that torrid wil- 
derness. A most grateful service ! And whereas an 
apostle speaks of our fathers being baptised in the 
cloud, it would seem, that on some occasions this 
beneficial cloud refreshed the Israelites, by shedding 
kindly dews upon their camp. So Jesus Christ is to 
his people as a refreshing due upon the grass, and 
as a cloud of the latter rain. Under his shadow 
they sit dow^n with great delight, and find cool shel- 
ter from the scorching beams both of divine wrath 
and worldly tribulation. Happy souls who have 
thus the Lord for their keeper, and for their shade 
on their right hand. " The sun shall not smite them 



PILLAR OF CLOUD AND FIRE. 107 

by day, nor the moon by night-/* even that great and 
terrible day, which shall burn like an oven, will be 
to these favored of the Lord, as the times of refresh- 
ing from the presence of the Lord. 

It was their oracle ; for he spake unto them in 
the cloudy pillar. And it was their ornament ; for 
he spread this cloud for their covering, or cloth of 
state, making darkness not only his own, but their 
pavilion. How fitly both these may be applied to 
Jesus Christ, is not difficult to see. Who but Christ 
is the oracle of his Church, in whom God speaks 
unto his people, both as a promising and prayer 
answering Grod, without whom we would not have 
heard his voice at any time, but in the language of 
terror ] Who but Christ is their ointment, who 
makes them temble as an army with banners, and 
comely as Jerusalem ] The pillar of cloud and fire 
was not half so adorning to their camp, as is thy 
gracious presence to every assembly and every dwell- 
ing place of mount Zion, O thou glorious Redeemer. 
Even now thou ait the light of the Gentiles, and the 
glory of thy people Israel. But how much more 
when this imperfect scene shall pass away, and they 
shall know the import of that most gracious prom- 
ise, ** The Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and 
thy God thy glory." 



IV. THE MANNA IN THE WILDERNESS. 

We have seen how the horrors of the wilderness 
were considerably abated by their miraculous cloud. 
But soon the provision they brought from Egypt is 
spent ; and unless some new miracle is wrought for 
them, they have nothing before their eyes but the 
melancholy prospect of perishing with hunger. The 
faithless multitude forgetting their late deliverance 



108 TYPICAL THINGS. 

at the Red Sea, fall to murmuring against Moses, 
and wished they had never stirred from the house of 
bondage. Had they got what they deserved on this 
occasion, the Lord bad sent fire from heaven upon 
them instead of food ; but God, who is rich in mer- 
cy, chose to still the fretful murmurs of his first born 
with the breast rather than the rod. He bids the 
heaven supply by its bounty what the earth denied 
by its barrenness, and without their toil or sw^eat, 
gives them plenty of bread, even in a land that was 
not sown. " He rained down manna upon them to 
eat, and gave them of the corn of heaven. Man did 
eat angel's food : he sent them meat to the full." 
How happy are they who are walking after the Lord, 
though in a wilderness ! It was a convincing proof, 
that man does not live by bread alone. But God 
intended by this good gift not only to supply their 
present necessity, but also to prefigure that spiritual 
meat presented in the Gospel. In this interpietation 
we cannot possibly be wrong, when we have no less 
an authority for it than Jesus Christ himself, who, 
speaking to his hearers on this very subject, says, 
** Moses gave them not that bread from heaven, but 
my father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 
For the bread of God is he that came dow^n from 
heaven, and gives life unto the world. " I am the 
bread of life." Having therefore, such infallible tes- 
timony to the general meaning of this heavenly food, 
let us try to find out the principle traces of resem- 
blance betwixt it and Jesus Christ. In order to do 
this we shall shortly attend to the following things. 
Its falling. The manna fell from heaven ; Christ 
is he that comes down from above. It fell round 
ahout their camp ; Christ is to be found in the visible 
church, and no where else — with the dew when they 
slept ; Jesus Christ is purely the gift of God, who 
descends like dew upon the grass, for whom we toil 
not, sow not, reap not — when they tvere in the most 



MANNA IN THE WILDERNESS. 109 

absolute need and ready to perish ; when we were 
without strength, and in due time Christ died for the 
ungodly — when they were not at all deserving it, hut 
grievously sinning, hy preferring the flesh-pots of 
Egypt to the p^j'ospects of Canaan; and Christ laid 
down his hfe when sinners were preferring the plea- 
sures of sin, and vanities of the world, to all the 
things above. In a word, it fell in such large quan- 
tities as to suffice that numerous host ; in Jesus Christ 
there is enough to supply every want. 

Its gathering by all the Israelites, may signify the 
improvement we all should make of the offered Sa- 
viour. It was gathered every day. So Christ should 
be daily improved by faith. It was gathered in the 
morning. For we must devote the best part of our 
time to the seeking his face as it is said, '* O Lord 
my God, early will I seek thee." It was gathered 
without the camp. So must the soul that seeks him 
retire from the huny of the world, or, to use the ex- 
pression of the sacred page, ** go out into the fields, 
and lodge in the villages." It was gathered a double 
portion on the sixth day, but on the seventh which 
was the Sabbath they stin'ed not from their tents, 
but lived on w^hat they laid up the day before. So 
in the season of this mortal life must we labor for 
that meat that endures to everlasting life, in the be- 
lieving improvement of the means of grace, and 
when the eternal Sabbath comes, we shall enjoy 
the hidden manna without means, or any painful 
endeavors. 

Its parting among the Israelites, seems not to be 
without its meaning. Some gathered less, some 
more in proportion to their ability and diligence, but 
all received a homor (a large allowance) from the 
common heap. By which means, as Moses relates, 
He that gathered much, had nothing over, because he 
gave to him that gathered less ; and he that gathered 
little had no lack, because he received from him that 

6* 



no TYPICAL THINGS. 

gathered more. Was the manna parted liberally un- 
to all ] None are straitened in Jesus Christ : ** They 
shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of God's 
house ; and thou shalt not make them drink of the 
river of thy pleasures." Was the manna equally 
distributed among the Israelites ? So all believers, 
of every sex, of every age, of every nation, strong or 
weak, eminent or obscure do equally partake in the 
common salvation : for all are one in Chiist Jesus. 

Its preparing in mills, mortars, and pans, where it 
was ground, beaten, and baked, to make it fit for di- 
gestion and nourishment, may put us in mind of the 
various sufferings of Christ's body and soul. The 
bread of God is he which came down from heaven ; 
but ere he could prove the bread of life, he behoved 
himself to die. That his flesh might be meat indeed, 
he behoved as it were to be beaten in the mortar of 
adversity, ground in the mill of vindictive justice, 
and baked as in the oven of the wrath of God. 

Its tasting so sweet when thus prepared, (for it re- 
sembled the fatness of oil, and the lusciousness of 
honey,) and its proving so wholesome and nutritive 
to all, though of different constitutions, may it not 
signify, that Jesus Christ is to the soul both sweet 
and wholesome food, adapted to the taste of all, of 
young men, of children, and of fathers ] And as the 
manna is supposed to have needed no other ingre- 
dients to make it palatable, no more does Jesus 
Christ, or the doctrine of his Gospel, need any for- 
eign recommendation to the spiritual taste. " O taste 
and see, that the Lord is good,'* says the sweet sing- 
er of Israel ; and in another place, " How sweet are 
thy words unto my taste : yea, sweeter than honey 
to the mouth. 

Its putrifying, if kept contrary to God's command, 
(for what was not used to-day, bred worms, and 
stank to-moiTow,) might not this denote, that when 
the wholesome doctrines of Christ's Gospel are 



MANNA IN THE WILDERNESS. Ill 

hoarded up in idle speculation, without being other- 
wise received in love or digested in spiritual nour- 
ishment, they are so far from being the savor of life 
unto life, as they become the savor of death unto 
death, and breed the worms of various lusts, and a 
condemning conscience : on which account it may 
be said here. He that increaseth knowledge increaseth 
sorrow. 

Its despising by the multitude as light food, by 
which their soul was dried away in comparison with 
their rank Egyptian fare renders it a proper emblem 
of Jesus Christ, the true bread, who is despised and 
rejected of men. Though the pure doctrine of Christ 
is, like the manna, angel's food, (for into these things 
they desire to pry ;) yet are there found to whom 
the word of the Lord is a reproach, and they have 
no delight in it. A romance, a philosophical disqui- 
sition, a moral declamation, a political harangue, is 
is far more grateful than a sermon whose theme is a 
crucified Redeemeri What is this but to prefer the 
fish, the melons, the cucumbers and onions of Egypt, 
to the corn of heaven % For their contempt of this 
celestial food, the Lord sent fiery serpents to plague 
the murmurers and complainers. Nor do the des- 
pisers of Jesus Christ expose themselves to less 
dreadful strokes, though they should not be of a cor- 
poreal kind ; for all these things happened unto them 
for ensaniples ; and they are loritten far our admon- 
ition upon whom the ends of the world are come. 

The presei-ving it in a golden pot, where, for a 
number of ages it was deposited in the most holy 
place, and remained without corruption ; was it not 
a representation of Christ's ascension into heaven, 
where he appears in the presence of God, death 
having no more dominion over him, and where he 
will be contained till the time of the restitution of all 
things ] Why else should communion with Christ 
in glory, be spoken of in terms alluding to this very 



112 TYPICAL THINGS. 

tiling ] For thus it is promised, ** To him that over- 
comes, will I give to eat of the hidden manna," in 
the words that the Spirit says unto the churches. 

The continuance of this heavenly bread for the 
space of forty years, (for so long they were in the 
wilderness,) does it not clearly intimate, that Jesus 
Christ will never forsake his people while they are 
here below 1 Still shall the bread of God descend 
in the dispensation of the everlasting Gospel, while 
the necessities of his people call for it : for so he 
promised, when about to depart from the earth, 
** Go" says he to his apostles, " teach and baptise all 
nations : and lo ! I am with you always even to the 
end of the world." 

The ceasing of the manna upon their tasting the 
corn of Canaan, may it not be viewed as a figure of 
ordinances, their ceasing when the wandering tribes 
shall gain their promised rest ] Or, shall we say, 
that as their heavenly provision failed when they 
tasted the bread that comes out of the earth ; so 
when the children of God themselves begin to relish 
overmuch the things of the earth, they may expect 
that heavenly consolations will be suspended in pro- 
portion ] When they are on the worst terms with 
the world, or when it is unto them as a wilderness 
and a land not sow^n, then truly God is good to Is- 
rael. Know your mercy, ye distinguished favorites 
of heaven ; nor envy their happiness who eat the 
calves out of the stall, and the lambs out of the fold, 
but are not fed with the heritage of Jacob. Let the 
sensual voluptuary glut himself with the impure plea- 
sures of sin, w^hich, like the little book that John did 
eat, are sweet to the mouth, but bitter to the belly, 
and to whom we may adopt the significant words in 
Job, " His meat in his bowels is turned ; it is the gall 
of asps within him." Let the rapacious worldling, 
who is smit with the dull charms of gold and silver, 
who is all hurry, hurry, about the business of this 



THE ROCK IN THE WILDERNESS. 113 

transitory life, let him fill his belly with the hid trea- 
sure of Grod, which never yet did satisfy a soul im- 
mortal. Let the legal self-justiciary, who is perhaps 
called by the name of Christ, but eats his own bread, 
and wears his own apparel, and trusts in his own 
righteousness, in whatsoever shape, as the ground 
of his aceptance with God, let him also spend his 
money for that which is not bread, and his labor for 
that which satisfieth not. But let the Christian who 
knows the gift of God, and the excellency of the heav- 
enly provision, let him labor not for the meat that 
perishes, but for the meat that endures unto ever- 
lasting life. Hungry and starving soul, you ask for 
bread, the world gives you a stone; what else are 
worldly riches 1 You ask a fish, the world presents 
you with a serpent ; what else are sinful pleasures ? 
But hearken diligently unto him who is himself the 
living bread, " Eat that which is good, and let your 
soul delight itself with fatness. Incline your ear, and 
come unto him ; hear, and your soul shall live.'' 
What is a happy old age, to a happy eternity ] This, 
O Jesus, is thy unspeakable gift. He that eats thee 
by faith, shall live for ever. He that comes to thee 
shall never hunger, and what is more, shall never die. 
O Lord, deny us what thou wilt, but give us this 
bread for ever more. 



V. THE ROCK IN THE WILDERNESS. 

Bread sJiall he given the^iiy says the prophetic 
voice ; the proof of this we have already seen : Their 
water shall be sure : the prpof of which we shall 
presently see. " For he clave the rocks in the wil- 
derness, and gave them drink as out of the great 
depths. He brought also streams out of the rocks, 
and caused waters to run down like rivers.'' What 



114 TYPICAL THINGS. 

cannot this mighty God do, at whose command the 
clouds shall yield bread, which usually comes out of 
the earth, to appease the hunger of his beloved peo- 
ple, and the rocks shall send forth water, which usu- 
ally falls from the clouds, to satisfy the thirst of his 
chosen race ] ** Tremble, O earth, at the presence 
of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, 
who turned the rock into a standing water, and the 
flinty rock into a fountain of water." Let us briefly 
recollect this memorable event, and its mystic sig- 
nification. 

The ransomed tribes are, for the trial of their faith, 
conducted by the Lord, who alone did lead them to 
a dry and thirsty spot in the wilderness at the rock 
Rephidim, w^here there was no water to drink. They 
ought to have recollected on this occasion, that the 
God who brought them here would most certainly 
extricate them from their present difficulties, as he 
had done often before. But O impatience, how ab- 
surd and unreasonable art thou ! Instead of betaking 
themselves to God by humble prayer, and quietly 
waiting for the salvation of the Lord, they impiously 
demand of Moses to give them water. They re- 
proach him with decoying them out of Egypt, where 
they were living so happy, with no other design than 
to famish them in the wilderness. In vain does this 
meek and gentle servant of God remonstrate the in- 
justice and impiety of their outrageous conduct. 
They are at the very point of stoning their deliverer, 
and rewarding with a cruel death the good offices 
he had done for them. He flies to God as his sanc- 
tuary, and invokes the almighty aid, not to revenge 
the affront offered him by the rude multitude, but to 
relieve them in their present straits. The prayer is 
no sooner made than answered. He is directed to 
take with him the elders of Israel, and the wonder- 
working rod, with which he smote the rivers : " And 
behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock 



ROCK IN THE WILDERNESS. 115 

in Horeb, and thou shall smite the rock, and there 
shall come water out of it, that the people may drink." 
Moses obeys, and the event crowns his wishes. But 
long after, when the people were in Kadesh, and re- 
duced to the same straits they were in at Rephidim, 
the unbelieving race relapsed in their old rebellious 
murmurs. Moses is directed to nearly the same 
method of relief, but does not acquit himself with 
the same temper and moderation. For they angered 
him at the waters of strife, and provoked his spirit so, 
that he spake unadvisedly with his lips, betraying at 
the same time, in presence of the whole assembly, 
his own diffidence in the promise of Jehovah ; for 
being commanded to speak unto the rock, and as- 
sured that it would obey his voice, he seems to have 
exceeded his commission, by addressing the host in 
the language of wrath, and doubting and smiting the 
rock more than once. The miracle indeed was 
wrought, but the worker, though dear to God, se- 
verely punished for his offensive behavior and unbe- 
lief, being involved in the same fate, together with 
Aaron, as the rest of the generation, to die in the 
wilderness, without entering into the promised land. 
That more was meant than to give water for their 
thirst, might be presumed from the naked history in 
Moses. This God could do without a miracle. He 
could have opened the bottles of heaven, or led them 
to another Elim. Or if he had chose the miraculous 
method, why should the rock be smitten with a rod, 
to give streams in the wilderness and waters in the 
desert, while God himself was standing on its sum- 
mit 1 But the great apostle of the Gentiles puts it 
beyond all doubt, and wan*ants us to say without 
faltering, that this rock was Christ, Having there- 
fore such an infallible guide to our meditation, let us 
reflect a little what was the rock, what was the smit- 
ing, and what the water that issued from it, and fol- 
lowed them in the way. 



116 TYPICAL THINGS. 

The rock itself might be an emblem of his Person, 
in whom is everlasting strength, to whom we may 
fly as a refuge, and upon whom we may build as a 
foundation. There is not, perhaps, a metaphor more 
frequent in the book of God, than this, God is a rock. 
Though never once used before this remarkable oc- 
currence, yet soon after it is adopted by Moses in 
his dying song. 

The smiting of the rock might prefigure his satis- 
factory sufferings, who was stricken, smitten of God 
and afflicted ; and one of the soldiers opened his side 
with a spear, and there came out blood and water. 
The rock was smitten with the rod of Moses, the 
type of the law ? And it was the curse of the law 
that subjected him to the ignominious cross, who re- 
deemed us from the curse of the law, being made a 
curse for us. The rock was smitten in the presence 
of the elders and people of the Jews with noise and 
tumult. So Christ was wounded for our transgres- 
sions at Jerusalem, the most public place, and at the 
passover solemnity, the most public time. Then and 
there he endured the cross, and despised the shame. 
At the commandment of the Lord the rock was 
smitten, and by the commandment of the Lord was 
the Captain of our salvation made perfect through 
sufferings. It was smitten but once with approba- 
tion, and when Moses smote it twice, the Lord was 
angry with him for doing it. Might not this be an 
obscure intimation, that Christ by one offering should 
finish the work of our redemption. For he needed 
not often to suffer from the foundation of the world. 
But whoever they be that crucify to themselves the 
Son of God afresh, they shall not go unpunished. 

The water that issued from the rock, what might 
it signify ] Shall we say, it is an emblem of the glad 
tidings of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which are to 
the distressed conscience, as cold water to a thirsty 
soul ] In vain did the poor and needy seek water to 



ROCK IN THE WILDERNESS. 117 

refresh their troubled minds in the legal doctrine of 
the scribes and Pharisees, or in the philosophical dis- 
quisitions of the Gentile sages. Still their souls failed 
them for thirst. But the Lord heard ihem, and the 
God of Jacob did not forsake them. For in the preach- 
ing of the everlasting gospel both to the Jews and 
the Gentiles, the charming promise received its ac- 
complishment in the most ample manner, " I w^ill 
open livers in the high places, and springs in the 
valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, 
and the dry land springs of water. The beast of 
the field shall honor me, the dragon and the owl, 
because I gave waters in the wilderness, and rivers 
in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen." 
Or shall we say, that the waters from the rock is an 
emblem of the influences of the blessed Spirit, that, 
like a river as pure as chrystal, issues from the throne 
of God and of the Lamb % To this refreshing, cleans- 
ing, and prolific element, our Lord himself com- 
pares this glorious Person, when on the last day of 
the feast he stood and cried, ^' If any man thirst, let 
him come unto me and drink. He that believes on 
me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 
This he spake of the Spirit, which they that believe 
on him should receive." Or shall we say, that this 
water may be an emblem of that precious blood of 
Christ, which cleanses from all sin, and except we 
drink it in a spiritual manner, we can have no life 
in us ] Or, lastly, shall we say, that the water that 
that issued from the smitten rock did represent all 
the blessings of redemption, the salutary effects of 
his sufferings and death ] For to him we may apply 
what the prophet foretels, "And a man shall be as 
rivers of waters in a dry place, and the shadow of 
a great rock in a weary land." 

These waters flowed not till the rock was smitten 
with the rod of Moses. Nor could we have derived 
these gracious benefits from Christ, which we do 



118 TYPICAL THINGS. 

partake if he had not suffered. The striking of a 
flint, one should think, .would rather bring fire than 
water. But it was of the Lord of hosts, who is won- 
derful in counsel, and excellent in working. Who 
would iniao:ine that the Redeemer's sufferinsfs, which 
in themselves were tragical and melancholy, should 
prove so consolatory to the believing soul ? O Chris- 
tian, it is thine to extract joy out of sorrow, happi- 
ness out of misery, glory out of ignominy, life out 
of death, though these things seem as impossible as 
to fetch water from the flinty rock. 

The waters flowed when the rock w^as smitten, 
not in scanty measure, but in large abundance. The 
miraculous stream was not exhausted, though many 
hundred thousand men, with their herds drank of 
it. Nor were the dry places of that sandy desert 
able to imbibe the copious moisture. So inexhausted 
is the fulness of Jesus Christ, from whom all sorts 
of men, the Jews, the Gentiles, the barbarians, the 
Scythians, the bond and the free, may receive all 
sorts of blessings. You are not straitened in him, 
O children of men ; this river of God which is full of 
water, can never run dry, nor be exhausted, how 
abundantly soever we drink of its refreshing streams, 

The waters that flowed from the rock, were not 
only sufficient to supply the present straits of Israel, 
but as the sacred story tells, they followed them in 
the way, for some considerable time at least after 
the rock was smitten. So Jesus Christ imparts the 
blessed fruits of his satisfactory death, not only to 
the first ages of Christianity, but to the most distant 
ages of the world. Never shall this goodness and 
mercy cease to follow all that are Israelites indeed, 
till mortality shall be swallowed up of life, till the 
wilderness be exchanged for Canaan, and the mili- 
tant be exchanged for the triumphant state. The 
winter shall not an-est this river in icy fetters, and 
the drought of summer shall not drink it up like a 



ROCK IN THE WILDERNESS. 119 

brook ; for thus the promise runs, by the mouth of 
the prophet Zechariah, " in summer and winter shall 
it be." 

Blessed be our rock, who consented to be smitten, 
that we might diink abundantly of the Tiver of plea- 
sures. Great was the love of David's three worthies, 
who hazarded their lives to purchase for their long- 
ing general a draught of water from the well of 
Bethlehem. But greater was the love of Jesus, who 
lost his life, and poured his precious blood, that we 
might draw water with joy from the wells of salva- 
tion, when hungry and thirsty our soul fainted in us. 
" O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, 
and for his wonderful works to the children of men !'* 
May this river, the streams whereof make glad the 
city of God, be our consolation in this dry and thirsty 
land. Ye broken cisterns of this world, sinful plea- 
sures, vain comforts and delights, and our own legal 
righteousness, can you supply the place of this foun- 
tain of Hving waters ] How miserably are they disap- 
pointed, who exchange the one for the other ! They 
shall come back with their pitchers empty : they 
shall be ashamed and confounded, and cover their 
heads. How justly they desei^ve that God should 
bring upon them the waters of the river strong and 
many, and pour upon them the fury of his anger, 
who refuse these waters of Shiloah that go softly ! 
Open, O Lord, the ears of sinners to hear thy gra- 
cious invitation, " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come 
ye to the waters." Open their eyes to see this well, 
as once thou opened the eyes of Hagar in the wil- 
derness, lest in hell they lift up their eyes in torment, 
without a drop to cool their tongue. O grant us to 
believe on him, that we may never thirst. 



120 



VL THE BRAZEN SERPENT. 

The host of Israel had long traversed the des- 
olate wilderness, and finding no end to their wand- 
erings, instead of accepting this punishment of their 
iniquity from the hand of the Lord, again they mur- 
mur against him and Moses, and undervalue their 
heavenly provision, though the food of angels. The 
incensed Jehovah commands the serpents to bite 
them. The serpents obeyed, and much of the peo- 
ple died. The survivors, convinced of their error, 
confess their fault, and beg that Moses would inter- 
cede for them with their offended God. Moses 
hearkens to the people, and the Lord was entreated 
of him. But observe the strange manner wherein 
the cure was wrought. Does he kill these poison- 
ous and fiery flying serpents outright ] No. Does 
he drive them to some distant region of the earth, 
or remote corner of the wilderness, where the Is- 
raelites would be annoyed with them no more ] 
Nor this either. Or does he restrain those noxious 
creatures from stinging ihem, which was also possi- 
ble, though they swarmed in the camp '? None of 
all these. The serpents are suffered to live, suffered 
to remain in the camp, and suffered to bite as before. 
But a brazen serpent is by God's command lifted 
upon a pole, that it might be conspicuous from afar; 
and whoever snatched a look of this lifeless serpent, 
needed not fear the bite of the living ones ; for the 
wound was not mortal. ** Happy art thou, O Israel, 
a people saved by the Lord." They were hungry, 
and they had miraculous bread ; thirsty, and they 
were supplied with miraculous drink ; now they 
are sick and wounded, and they are favored with 
miraculous medicine. Here indeed the scripture 
was fulfilled in the most literal sense : " Fools, be- 
cause of their transgression, and because of their 



I 



i 



THE BRAZEN SERPENT. 121 

iniquities, are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth all 
manner of meat, and they draw near to the gates of 
death. Then they ciy unto the Lord in their 
trouble, he saveth them out of their distresses. He 
sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them 
from their destructions." 

Let us behold in this eminent figure at once our 
miserable state by sin, and the method of our re- 
covery by Jesus Christ, who from this very thing 
preached to Nicodemus the doctrine of his cross : 
" For as Moses," said he, *^ lifted up the serpent in 
the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be 
lifted up." 

The devil and his angels, these are the fieiy fly- 
ing serpents, who though invisible to the eye, have 
stung the race of Adam, and have insinuated their 
deadly poison through the whole mass of human 
nature ; for which we may take up the prophet's la- 
mentation, " The whole head is sick, and the whole 
heart faint." Ever since we brake over the hedge 
of the divine law, these serpents have incessantly 
bit us. This makes the world a terrible wilderness 
indeed, a land of trouble and anguish, whence come 
the viper and the fiery flying serpent. It is true, 
the wounds that are made by the scorpions of hell, 
may seem but slight at the fii-st ; for many a tirne 
they have stricken us, and we were not grieved. 
But as the unhappy Israelite soon perceived the 
deadly venom drinking up his vitals, so shall the 
devil's fieiy darts, sooner or later, inflame the con- 
science, and never fail to enkindle in the heart a 
burning fever of unsatisfied and irregular desires. 
It was only the death of the mortal body that 
threatened the stung Israelite. But the soul, the 
immortal soul, is endangered by the bite of the in- 
fernal serpent, unless an antidote can be found. 
And this Antidote is the Lord Jesus Christ, of 
which thy serpent, Moses, was a figure. 



122 TYPICAL THINGS. 

It may perhaps seem odd at first, that so noxious 
and hateful creature as the serpent, should be made 
an emblem of the amiable and beneficent Redeemer; 
especially when we consider that the serpent is a 
name commonly appropriated to the grand adversa- 
ry of God and man ; and in the scripture-style 
wicked men are called serpents and a generation of 
vipers. But let us reflect to whom he is a serpent : 
for he is to the devil what this malicious spirit is un- 
to us, that is, his destroyer. Why should it not be 
equally proper to compare the gracious Redeemer 
to the serpent as to the lion, both which are names 
of his great enemy '? What is the strength of the 
roaring lion of hell, to his strength who is the Lion 
of the tribe of Judah ] And what is the subtlety 
of the devil, the old serpent, to the wisdom of Jesus 
Christ, the new 1 Besides, the serpent, being the 
first cursed creature, may, even on this account, be 
pitched on as a type of him who was to become a 
curse for us. But whereas the serpent of Moses 
was void of poison, and wore no sting, for it was 
only the form of a serpent; it is natural here to 
think, how Jesus Christ only appeared in the like- 
ness of sinful flesh, but was utterly a stranger to 
the venom of sin, though in all other things made 
like to us, whose poison is as the poison of a ser- 
pent. Whether the strength and lustre of the brass, 
might be a faint shadow of the strength and glory 
of that wonderful Person, the God-man, I shall not 
affirm. 

But the lifting up this serpent seems an evident 
prediction of that death which Christ should die. 
Here he is evidently set forth crucified before us, 
as we are taught by himself who is the end of the 
law for righteousness, when speaking of the death 
he should die, "And I," says he, " if I be lifted up 
from the earth, will draw all men after me.'' The 
serpent was lifted up on a pole ; and Christ was 



THE BRAZEN SERPENT. 123 

lifted up on the accursed tree. The serpent was 
lifted up by Moses, the figure of the law; and 
Christ was by the law subjected to enduring the 
cross. The sei'pent was lifted up in the most con- 
spicuous manner amid the camp of Israel ; and the 
crucifixion of the Son of God was transacted in the 
most public manner at Jerusalem, the metropolis of 
Judea. It was God who commanded the serpent to 
be lifted up in the wilderness ; and it was God who 
commanded the Lord and Saviour to lay down his 
life, and adjusted by his determinate counsel, all the 
shameful, and all the painful circumstances of that 
awful and amazing scene. If it had not been with 
a view to its elevation on the pole, Moses had not 
been ordered to make this brazen image : nor would 
the Son of God appeared in the likeness of a man, 
but with an intention to expire on the cross, and 
give his life a ransom for many. The serpent was 
lifted up, that whosoever beheld it might be healed 
and live ; and Christ was crucified, that whosoever 
believeth in him, might not perish, but have ever- 
lasting life. 

That a wounded Israelite should be saved by 
looking, and a perishing sinner by believing, are 
things that bear no small resemblance to each other. 
For what is believing on him, but seeing him who 
is invisible, that, like Moses, we may endure ] What 
is it but looking on him whom we have pierced, 
that we may mourn ] How fitly may the glorious 
words in the prophet Isaiah come from the mouth 
of the crucified Redeemer, *^ Look unto me, and be 
saved, all ye ends of the earth ; for I am God, and 
there is none else ; beside me there is no Saviour." 
Let us more particularly obseiTe the likeness of 
their remedy to ours. 

It was a method of cure solely contrived and ap- 
pointed of .God, from whose ordinance alone it re- 
ceived its efficacy. Who would so much as have 



124 TYPICAL THINGS. 

imagined in a dream, that to look at a dead serpent 
of brass, would cure the bite of a living serpent I 
Should reason be allowed to give her verdict, she 
would perhaps be so far from pronouncing it a pro- 
per expedient, that she would rather judge it a gross 
absurdity ; especially if it be true what some affirm, 
that the sight of burnished brass is naturally perni- 
cious to them who are bitten of serpents ; and if it 
be true what is also asserted, that to see but the 
shape of any venomous creature, increases the tor- 
ment of the unhappy sufferer whom it bit. Exactly 
so ; the method of our recovery by the cross of Je- 
sus Christ, is a device that claims God himself for 
its only original. The world by wisdom never 
would have arrived at the knowledge of it, nay, it is 
a thing they are highly offended with, for it is in 
them that perish foolishness ; but to them that are 
saved, it is the wisdom of God, and the power of 
God, unto salvation, to every one that believeth. 
Though reason would not have thought, God has 
ordained it. To this alone must all its efficacy be 
ascribed : for ** it is the will of the Father, that 
whosoever seeth the Son and believes on him, should 
not perish, but have everlasting life V 

It was a method of cure that never failed, being 
no less sure than strange. Not an Israelite died, as 
Moses assures us, who looked at the brazen serpent. 
Where were they ever ashamed that put their trust 
in Christ] Were they ever disappointed in their 
expectations, that believed in him for everlasting 
life] 

It was a method of cure that might be easily put 
in practice by an Israelite, if he was not blind. 
Perhaps he might happen to receive his wound in 
some remote place of the camp, and though it should 
have affected him in such a manner, that he could 
neither move hand nor foot ; yet without stirring 
from the place where he was, without sending for 



THE BRAZEN SERPENT. 125 

physicians to apply their medicines, he was saved 
by one glance of his eye. In like manner if the 
god of this world has not blinded our minds, we are 
saved, not by working, but by believing. The works 
of the law are physicians of no value to the dis- 
tressed conscience ; but Christ is a present help, 
and to find him we need neither climb up into 
heaven, nor descend into the deep. 

It was a remedy that might be repeated as often 
as there was occasion for it. So Christ is the pro- 
pitiation for our sins, to whom we may warrantably 
have recourse as often as we are wounded by hellish 
temptations, and in every time of need. Yet let no 
abuser of this heavenly doctrine infer, that because 
the remedy is at hand, they may be careless and 
secure, and expose themselves at random to the 
painful stings of the infernal serpents. What Israel- 
ite would be so mad as to handle these hateful 
creatures, and court them to instil their venom, with 
no other design than to try the experiment of the 
brazen serpent's virtue ] Would not this been a 
horrid presei-vation of that healing ordinance,* and 
at least a tempting the Lord ] But the truth is, the 
human race do not more abhor the touch and neigh- 
bC;^'hood of serpents of every kind, than an Israelite 
indeed, or a sincere believer, when acting up to his 
character, will abhor even all approaches to tempta- 
tion. It is every whit as reasonable to suppose, 
that because the serpents in the wilderness were 
not permitted to destroy the Israelites, by reason of 
their heavenly antidote, therefore they loved the 
serpents, and delighted in their society, as it is to 
suppose, that the true Christian can be encouraged 
to sin, or love that which he hates, because of 
abounding grace. 

It was a remedy that proved effectual, without all 
doubt, to the Israelite who used it, though his visive 
faculty had been ever so weak. So the weakest 

7 



126 TYPICAL THINGS. 

faith, if genuine, is saving as the strongest, because 
its object is the same. 

It was in shoit, a remedy that ascribed the whole 
glory to God ; even as in the work of our salvation 
by Jesus Christ all boasting is excluded. While the 
believing soul treads upon the adder, and tramples 
the dragon under feet, and says, " O death, where 
is thy sting V^ O Satan where is thy power ]" Let 
him also say. Thanks he unto God that gives us the 
victory through Jesus Christ our Lord. 



VIL THOUGHTS ON THE VAIL OF MOSES. 

The law-giver of the Jews having ascended the 
second time to mount Sinai, where he obtained a 
sight of the divine glory, and got the second tables 
inscribed anew, with the figure of God, after the 
first were broken, he now descends to the camp 
with the tables in his hand, but is greatly surprised, 
to see his brother Aaron, and other Israelites, filled 
with perturbation at his approach, and afraid to look 
him in the face. Such horror might indeed have 
well become them the first time he descended ; for 
they had, during his absence, been guilty of that 
almost unpardonable crime, the making their golden 
calf, which they could not but suspect would be 
highly resented both by God and Moses. But now 
their peace was made, and their prophet comes with 
the pledges of reconciliation in his hand, what can 
be the reason (might he say to himself) of my bre- 
thren's running away from me, as if I were still their 
enemy 1 The face of Moses was equally meek as 
before ; but though the features were the same, it 
shone With a glory visible to every body but himself; 
This strange phenomenon was the cause of that aw- 
ful distance they kept. But perceiving that his voice 



THOUGHTS ON THE VAIL OF MOSES. 127 

was the same, though his face altered, they resume 
their courage and venture to approach him, though 
still they dare not come to any close interview with 
their shining law-giver, till, in condescension to their 
weakness, he put a vail upon his glorious face. Such 
honor it pleased God to confer on his faithful ser- 
vant, not only to inspire the minds of the Israelites 
with greater reverence for him, but chiefly to dig- 
nify that dispensation of which he was the minister. 
We are not told how long this miraculous brightness 
lasted, but in all appearance it was not of long dura- 
tion, and vanished gradually away, to signify the 
transient nature of that economy. 

Moses himself, perhaps, intended no more by vail- 
ing his face, than what is expressed in the histoiy. 
However, the wisdom of the Holy Ghost having 
given as an allegorical interpretation of this action 
by the mouth of the apostle Paul, let us dwell upon 
it a little. 

The vail upon the face of Moses, according to 
that eminent apostle, did signify, that, partly through 
the obscurity of their law, and partly through the 
blindness of their hearts, the children of Israel 
could not steadfastly look to the end of that which 
was abolished. Now that which was abolished is 
their legal dispensation, and the end of that which 
was abolished is Jesus Christ himself, who is the 
end of the law for righteousness as having fulfilled 
its meaning, cancelled its authority, and introduced 
in its room a far more excellent economy. 

What, may some reply, did Israel not know the 
meaning of their law ] Was it the intention of the 
Almighty to conceal from them a thing in which 
they are so highly interested ] Had they no suffi- 
cient intimations, that their ritual institutions did 
point at better things, and were, in future time, 
capable of repeal, and would actually receive an end] 

In answer to this, it is not at all denied but there 



128 TYPICAL THINGS. 

were many things in the writings and law of Moses, 
that not obscurely hinted its true design. The vail 
of Moses was not so thick and broad, but some rays 
of his light did actually transpire. Even as the 
darkness and blackness that involved the frighted 
summit of mount Sinai, was interspersed with flashes 
of lightning, and gleams of fire. The attentive Is- 
raelite, who meditated upon the law of the Lord 
day and night, might know that more was meant 
than was plainly expressed. The constant expecta- 
tion of a Messias, which universally obtained in all 
ages of the Jewish Church, might fully convince 
them of the weakness of their rites, to do what 
they seemed to promise, and that the ceremonial 
law was far from being the whole of their religion. 
They had it hinted unto them in the dying benedic- 
tion of their great forefather, that their judicial law 
should not be always observed, but that a period 
should arrive, when the sceptre should depart from 
the royal tribe. A small measure of acquaintance 
with their own hearts, might have easily persuaded 
them, that the demands of the moral law, or ten 
commandments, were too rigid for them ever to 
hope justification by their compliance with them : 
for however much it may be thought by superficial 
observers, that the first nine precepts in the law 
may be fulfilled by an imperfect creature; yet it is 
evident, that the very letter of the tenth command- 
ment forbids the sins of the heart, and all the mo- 
tions of concupiscence. How can the proudest 
legalist plume himself with the foolish conceit of 
being able to conform himself in all respects to the 
very letter of the law, when the very letter of the 
law says, " Thou shalt not covet V — If then there 
were many Israelites who rested in the law, without 
looking any further, and fondly imagined that it was 
able to give them eternal life, this fatal mistake was 
not chiefly owing to the obscurity of their dispensa- 



THOUGHTS ON THE VAIL OF MOSES. 129 

tion, but to the blindness of their hearts that were 
hard as the stones on which their law was written, 
and valid as their law-giver's face. 

But, after all, it must be confessed, the law and 
holy books of Moses have much obscurity in them, 
when compared with the great plainness of speech 
used by the apostles in the New Testament. They 
may be compared to a fine picture placed in a dark 
comer, though its principal figures may be discerned 
by a penetrating eye, it is, however, impossible the 
delicate touches of the pencil, the distributions of 
light and shade, the beauty of the tints, the elegancy 
of the designs, can be thoroughly perceived by the 
most vigorous sight, till the finished piece is trans- 
lated from its obscure situation, and set in an advan- 
tageous light. 

One that reads the writings of Moses, and throws 
but a cursory glance over the moral, the ceremonial, 
and the judicial law, without remembeiing, that, 
like Moses, they put a vail on their face, he would 
be very apt to mistake the true design of the whole 
system, and to entertain many erroneous opinions 
that are really inconsistent with its original inten- 
tion, though they seem to be founded upon it. One 
would think the ceremonial worship prescribed so 
minutely by Moses, must certainly have been very 
acceptable to God, even for its own sake, or he 
would never been at the pains to adjust, by his ex- 
press authority, the smallest circumstance relative 
unto it. One would almost imagine, that the Deity 
took pleasure to eat the flesh of bulls, and drink the 
blood of goats ; that he is displeased with outward 
corporeal uncleanness ; that the beauty of his wor- 
ship consists in the outward pomp of splendid rites ; 
that the blood of slaughtered beasts was able to take 
away sin; that man has still power to obey the 
moral law ; that we must enter into life by keeping 
the commandments ; that righteousness can come 



130 TYPICAL THINGS. 

by the law : that the natural seed of Abraham could 
never be rejected from being the people of God ; 
that their civil state should be unhinged, and their 
ceremonies should never be abolished. These, and 
many such false opinions, might have been suggested 
by the terms in which the law is uttered. And 
many a carnal Jew was taken in this snare. Even 
unto this day when Moses is read, the vail is upon 
their hearts. 

In vain did the prophets endeavor to pull this 
vail aside, and reclaim from these vain imaginations 
that stiffnecked people, the bulk of whom persevere 
in their absurd prejudices and presumptions expec- 
tations to this very day. 

If any should inquire, why the revelation of the 
divine will was not equally plain in the past as in the 
present age ? why the God with whom light dwells, 
would deliver a law to his people, of which the true 
design and genuine scope was not obvious at the 
first view ] It is not for us to dive into the eternal 
counsels. It was the will of God that it should be 
so ; and who dare to say to him What dost thou? Let 
us rather observe how the vail was gradually re- 
moved till Moses stands confessed, and the designs 
of his economy is no longer a mystery, since the 
revelation of Jesus Christ. 

Much is said in the prophetic scriptures, that 
might have undeceived the blind Jews, and taught 
them to abate their vain confidence in their national 
privileges, their ceremonial observances, and their 
moral righteousness. The grand doctrines of Chris- 
tianity relating to the Person, the character, and 
mediation of Jesus Christ, are laid down in these 
venerable writings with greater perspicuity than in 
the books of Moses. But though the prophets har- 
moniously conspire in giving their suffrage to every 
Christian doctrine ; yet still they put upon their face 
the veil of poetical figures and ceremonial phrases, 



THOUGHTS ON THE VAIL OF MOSES. 131 

They describe spiritual blessings by images of civil 
peace and plenty. With them the victory of Jesus 
Christ is treading of a vrine-press, in which the 
v\^ine is the blood of slaughtered enemies ; prayer 
is incense, and a pure offering ; conversion is going 
up to Jerusalem ; gospel- worship is the celebration 
of the festival of the Jews. 

But now comes John the Baptist, the harbinger 
of Christ, who talks still plainer than Moses or the 
prophets ; and instead of commending the Levitical 
sacrifices, he invites his hearers to regard that un- 
known Person to whom he pointed as the complete- 
raent of them all, " Behold the Lamb of God, that 
takes away the sin of the world.*' 

But by the ministry of Christ and his blessed 
apostles, the law is wholly unmasked, and the veil 
on Moses' face entirely done away. The lowly 
birth, indigent life, and ignominious death of the 
Messias himself, was an incontestible proof, that his 
kingdom is not of the world, as the Jews expected. 
Though he was the great High-Priest he gave no 
attendance at the altar ; and his forerunner, though 
born a Levite, never officiated in the temple. This 
was a plain declaration, that he was come to abro- 
gate these ancient rites. But if we attend to the 
strain of his doctrine, it will appear how he was 
calculated to remove the vail, and cure the prejudi- 
ces of the mistaken Jews. He taught that a man 
is not defiled by what enters in at the mouth : fore- 
told that their city and temple, the centre of their 
worship, should be razed ; and that a spiritual wor- 
ship should be established over all the world, and 
might be presented unto God in every place. That 
he might pave the way for explaining the grand 
doctrine of justification by his imputed righteous- 
ness, he expatiated upon the vast extent of the 
moral law, and frequently inculcated the sad deprav- 
ity of human nature. He spoke of himself as the 



132 TYPICAL THINGS. 

fulfiller of all righteousness, the heavenly manna, 
and the antitype of the serpent lifted up in the 
wilderness. 

But after his ascension, he inspired his apostles 
to finish what he had only begun, and completely 
remove that vail which Moses put upon his face. 
By their apostolic decree, they instructed the Chris- 
tian Gentiles in their New Testament liberty ; and 
by their epistles addressed to the primitive churches, 
they entirely dissipated the obscurity of the Old 
Testament shadows. Now it appears that the king- 
dom of God is not meats and drinks, but righteous- 
ness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost ; that the 
Mosaic law was only a schoolmaster to tutor the 
church in her childish state, and train her up for a 
more perfect institution. Now we plainly see, that 
righteousness cannot possibly come by the law, nor 
pardon by the sacrifices. If the vail is not still upon 
our hearts, we may behold with open face the glory 
of the Lord, and be changed into the same image, 
from glory to glory. Now the face of the covering 
spread over all people, and the vail cast over all 
nations, is entirely destroyed; and, therefore, O 
house of Israel, come let us walk in the light of 
the Lord. 



VIII. OF SACRIFICES. 

Sacrificing is a religious action, in which a 
creature devoted to God was in a solemn manner 
destroyed in his presence, for sacred ends ; and it 
was a mode of worship that obtained in the most 
early ages of the world. It may not only be traced 
up to the famous era of giving the law from mount 
Sinai ; for the ancient patriarchs did commonly 
practice it. How many altars were built by Abra- 



OF SACRIFICES. 133 

ham, and his grandchild Jacob ? Melchizedec was 
a priest of the most high God ; J ob offered sacrifices 
both for his children and for his friends ; and God 
smelled a savour of rest, when Noah sacrificed clean 
beasts and birds upon the altar which he builded 
unto the Lord. But why do I mention these venera- 
ble personages as the most ancient practisers of sa- 
crificial worship, when it may be more than con- 
jectured, that Adam himself did use it? Can we 
think, when Abel offered unto the Lord the first- 
lings of his flock, that his father did not instruct him 
to testify in this manner his fear of the Lord ] And 
what shall we say of the coats of skins which the 
Lord made for them, or directed them to make *? 
The beasts to whom they belonged cannot so soon 
after the creation be supposed to have died of age. 
They behoved therefore to be slain. How natural 
to suppose that they w^ere slain in sacrifice, rather 
than for any other use ? Perhaps it was not without 
a mystery, that the skins of these beasts should 
clothe their bodies, whose blood made atonement 
for their souls. To be short then, though we can by 
no means assent, that in the state of innocence there 
would been the least occasion for them, they seem, 
however, to be as ancient as the promise about the 
seed of the woman, who was to have his heal 
bruised, while he bruised the serpent's head. 

The antiquity of sacrifices being supposed, let us 
now see by whose authority they were first enjoined. 
And it will be certainly found, that as their date is 
ancient their original is divine. That God prescribed 
them to his chosen people, is not disputed ; for a 
great part of the sacred volume is occupied in de- 
scribing the various laws by which the species of 
worship should be adjusted. But what shall we 
think of the sacrifices that were offered by the pa- 
triarchs before the law ] Were they at:ts of will- 
worship ? Did they contrive this mode of adoration 



134 TYPICAL THINGS. 

from their own brains ] Did the light of nature 
dictate, that the Deity could be delighted with 
butchering, slaying, and burning a harmless brute, 
or otherwise destroying creatures that were inani- 
mate ? No : neither did the light of nature dictate 
them, nor blind superstition, but the soverign will, 
and positive command of God is their original war- 
rant. Be it so, we read of the practice, before we 
read of the precept ; still from the former we may 
fairly infer the latter ; for such eminent saints would 
never have adventured to express their devotion in 
such a strange manner, if they had not been requir- 
ed to do so by the declared will of God. Indeed 
without such a persuasion they could not have 
offered in faith ; and we are assured by an authority 
too great to be controverted, that the first man 
"whose sacrifice is expressly mentioned in Scripture, 
offered through faith a more excellent sacrifice than 
Cain, of which the Deity was pleased to testify his 
acceptance, by some distinguishing marks of regard. 
Now, let us even suppose these paimitive believers 
might been so presumptuous as to invent, or prac- 
tise, without the command of God, such bloody 
rites, it can never be admitted, that God, who has 
upon all occasions testified his displeasure against 
the inventions of men in his worship, would have 
smiled upon such self-devised modes of adoration. 
Instead of testifying of their gifts, accepting their 
burnt-offerings, would he not rather have upbraided 
them, as in the words of that well-known reproof, 
** Who hath required this at your hands ]" Upon 
the whole, then, it is easy to see that sacrifices were 
not offered without the command of God. And it 
is more than probable, that the precept and the 
practice are of equal age ; that the holy rites were 
commanded immediately after the re- admission of 
our first parents into the divine favor upon the back 
of their apostacy ; — that the universal custom of 



OF SACRIFICES. 135 

sacrificing was received by tradition from the first 
man ;— -and that after the true design of the institu- 
tion was lost among the degenerate nations, the cer- 
emony itself was still preserved. 

Well then, the custom was ancient, was divine ; 
and surely it was for some important end God would 
command, and the best of men practice it, for the 
space of four thousand years. What could move the 
eternal Majesty to require for so long a time, that 
sacrifice should be an essential part of his worship] 
Was there any real excellency in these actions, that 
might render them pleasing to God for their own 
sake ] Were they to be put on an equal or superi- 
or footing to acts of moral service ] Not at all. Him- 
self declares in the most positive manner, even in the 
age of sacrifices, that to offer thanksgivings and yay 
their vows, to do justly, and Jove mercy, were actions 
far preferable to loading his altar with the most cost- 
ly oblations : — that though men had been ever so 
punctual in this kind of worship, they were not im- 
mediately entitled to the character of saints, whatever 
course of action they steered in their other deport- 
ment towards God, or their fellow creatures. Yea, 
so far were sacrifices from being able to recommend 
the persons of wicked sinners to God, that, on the 
contrary, their sins when resolutely persisted in, 
rendered not only their persons, but their sacrifices, 
detestable unto him. He loathed, he despised, he 
abhorred, his soul was weary to bear them. That 
they did really atone for ceremonial guilt, or sanctify 
to the purifying of the flesh, may indeed be allowed ; 
but that they could really atone for moral guilt, 
purge the conscience from dead works, or be accep- 
table to the divine Majesty for their own sake, is de- 
nied by scripture, reason, and even by the sacrifices 
themselves. It is denied by scripture — For in the 
prophet Micah, rivers of oil, and thousands of rams, 
are denied to be an adequate propitiation. And this 



136 TYPICAL THINGS. 

needs not be wondered at, for what is still more, the 
first-born, we are assured in the same place, would 
not be accepted for transgression, nor the fruit of 
the body for the sin of the soul. It is denied by rea- 
son — For reason herself being judge, where were 
the justness to punish a harmless beast for the sins 
of its owner ? What proportion betwixt the sin of a 
man, and the sufferings of a brute ] Can the Majesty 
of heaven indeed be prevailed upon to lay aside his 
just anger for such a puny satisfaction] Then, Si- 
nai, the thunders are vanished into smoke, and there 
was no occasion to publish with such solemnity and 
terror to the trembling Israelites that fiery law, 
whose curses may be so easily avoided. But let us 
ask even the sacrifices themselves, they will confess 
their insufficiency to expiate moral guilt ; for there 
were many sins that were not to be purged with 
sacrifice or offering. Let David bear witness, who 
says to God concerning his complicated crime of 
adultery and deliberate murder, " Thou desirest not 
sacrifice, else would I give it. Thou delightest not 
in burnt offering." Besides the repetition of these 
sacrifices is a most invincible proof, that it was not 
in them to make them perfect that oftered ; for then 
would they not have ceased to be offered 1 Surely 
they would ; for the worshippers once purged, should 
have no more conscience of sin. 

Was it then impossible that the blood of bulls and 
goats should take away sin, notwithstanding the an- 
tiquity and divine original of the custom to offer sa- 
rifice ] Having removed the false end of their insti- 
tution, let us examine into the real intention ; and 
we sliall have a particular eye to the offerings under 
the economy of Moses. And here it will not be 
contradicted, though one should affirm, that sundry 
circumstances in the law of sacrifices might be in- 
tended to convey moral instructions. For instance, 
that the brutish qualities of the sacrificed beasts, 



OF SACRIFICES. ♦ 137 

might signify the vices or lusts which we ought to 
moitify for the honor of God ; or that the virtuous 
quahties of the victims, suppose meekness, patience, 
and the like, might denote the graces and the virtues 
which the worshipper of God should cultivate in his 
own heart. It must not be denied, that the ancient 
ceremonial worship might be a figure of that reason- 
able sendee which is ever due to the Supreme Being 
in all the different states of the rational creature. 
But though these, and other considerations, may have 
their proper weight and place, we have not yet found 
out the adequate reason for these mysterious insti- 
tutions. In thy bloody death, O Jesus, we see the 
great antitype of these legal oblations. Most cer- 
tainly they were public acknowledgments of guilt, 
and professions of faith in the grand propitiation, 
which they believed should appear in the end of the 
world. Tell us thou sweet sinQ^er of Israel, who is 
he that shall do for us what the law could not do. 
In the fortieth psalm, David, speaking not of himself, 
but of a far more gloiious Person, has these most 
emphatical words ; " Sacrifice and oftering thou didst 
not desire : burnt-offering and sin-offering hast thou 
not required. Then said I, Lo, I come to do thy 
will, O God." It was not Christ who came to imi- 
tate the sacrifices, but the sacrifices were ordained 
to prefigure him. They were the shadow of future 
good things, but the body is of Christ. When Christ 
was first revealed, the sacrifices seems to have been 
practised : and when he died, they ceased to be of- 
fered. The temple heard his dying gi'oan, and rent 
her vail in presence of her priesthood, as they offered 
the evening sacrifice. From this time forth shall 
your office be vacated, ye legal priests. Ye beasts 
of the field, no more shall you smoke as victims on 
God's altar, for the merciful High-Priest has now 
given HIMSELF an offering and a sacrifice of a sweet 
smelling savor unto God. Now, if with the predic- 



138 TYPICAL THINGS. 

tion of his death they began, and ended v/ith the ac- 
compUshment, what can be more plain than the re- 
lation betwixt them, as the shadow and the substance] 
Set this relation aside, and it is impossible to vindi- 
cate to any advantage the original appointment of 
sacrifices, or to account for their abolition after they 
were enjoined. Should any be contentious on this 
point, we have an entire book in the canon of the 
New Testament, in which the professed argument 
is the resemblance of the Old Testament sacrifices 
to the true propitiation. Let us here glance at some 
of the most glaring parallels only betwixt the sacri- 
fice of Moses and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 

And, first. We may take notice of the qualities 
of the sacrificed creatures, especially of the animal 
kind. It was not left a matter of indifference, and 
wholly in the option of God's peculiar people, with 
what victims they should stain his altars. They be- 
hoved to be clean creatures, according to the law, 
fit to be eaten for the support of human life, and to 
be one with the offerer in some sense, by their apti- 
tude for digestion into the substance of his body. 
This was an evident memorial of the sanctity of the 
great propitiation, and that he should be a partaker 
of the same flesh and blood with those for whom he 
die ; for it was requisite, that both he that sanctifieth, 
and they that are sanctified, be all of one. The in- 
tegrity and perfection which God required in the 
bodies of these beasts, may easily be accommodated 
to the glorious antitype, who would have been wholly 
incapacitate, by any of the smallest blemish, from the 
discharge of his priestly function. For though it 
became the typical nation of the Jews to have an 
high-priest involved in the same guilt of actual trans- 
gression, with his brethren , who was therefore to 
offer first for his own sin, before he presumed to of- 
fer for the eiTors of the people : yet such an High- 
Priest became us., who i^ holy, harmless^ undeji.led and 



OF SACRIFICES. 139 

separated from sinners. They were, further, to be 
valuable and beloved creatures, as lambs that are for 
clothing, and goats that are the price of the field, 
and he that offered them was put to cost and damage, 
as indeed in the first ages of mankind the riches of 
the most opulent possessor consisted chiefly in flocks 
and herds. What forbids us to think here of Jesus 
Christ being the darling of his Father, and precious 
to them that believe ] O the invaluable treasure of 
blood, that was paid for the redemption of the soul ! 
In comparison hereof, what is silver and gold, and 
all corruptible things ] Ransack the bowels of the 
mountains, for all the glowing gems formed there in 
dark retirements, when compared to the precious 
blood of the Lamb, they are poor and beggarly ac- 
quisitions, and converted into pebble stones, fit to be 
trampled under feet. Moreover, there behoved to 
be found in the destined victims some amiable qual- 
ities resembling moral virtues. They were not per- 
mitted to sacrifice the stupid ass, or the sordid swine, 
though tame creatures ; far less were the fierce in- 
habitants of the forest, as wolves, bears, lions, to 
come upon God's altar. But the sacrifices in which 
he delighted were the gentle dove, the patient and 
laborious ox, the meek lamb, and the sheep that is 
dumb before the shearer and the butcher. Who sees 
not in these characters the veiy picture of the meek, 
lowly, patient, and unco'ftiplaining Savior of the 
world, who opened not his mouth when he was led 
as a lamb to the slaughter ] A circumstance, this 
which next to the dignity of his Person, did contrib- 
ute to the value of his satisfactory death. It is also 
worthy of notice, that of all these beasts, the first- 
born was most acceptable, and, according to the law, 
all such were holy unto the Lord. Was not this a 
prelude that he whom God would give to expiate 
our ti-ansgression, should be the first-born, among 
many brethren whom they should honor as the ex- 



140 TYPICAL THINGS. 

cellency of dignity, and to whom they should owe 
their dehverance from death, and their title to the 
inheritance ] I shall only further hint, that whereas 
Grod was not only pleased when the lich men offered 
of their larger cattle, but when the poor men brought 
turtle-doves and pigeons. Might not this put us in 
mind how the sacrifice which Grod accepts as equally 
accessible to the poor and the rich ] And truly, as 
the legal sacrifices were chargeable, in less, or more, 
to all that presented them, the real and better sacri- 
fice costs us nothing ; for we may buy it without 
money, and without price. 

From the qualities of the victims, let us go on to 
the sacred rites of oblation, and we shall find some- 
thing in our great sacrifice coiTesponding to them all. 
When the creature that was to surrender its life for 
its owner was pitched upon, it was brought unto the 
priest, and solemnly sisted before the Lord. But our 
Lord Jesus was not brought by others, like the ir- 
rational animal; but he voluntarily presented him- 
self before the Lord, when his time was fully come. 
Fully apprised of what was to be done unto him, he 
set his face to go up to Jerusalem, and patiently ex- 
pected in the melancholy garden the coming of the 
traitor, and his band of armed men to whom he was 
to deliver himself. The sacred animal being sisted 
before the Lord, was rendered ceremonially guilty, 
by the imposition of hands on its head, and by con- 
fessing over it the sins of the offerer. It was the Lord 
himself that laid on him the iniquities of us all. O 
Jesus it is our guilt alone that can justify the Judge 
of all the earth in taking pleasure to bruise thee ! 
And this doubtless was one great reason why he 
opened not his mouth, while the Roman governor 
■wondered at his silence. It was this consideration 
that fortified his mind at the approach of his incon- 
ceivable bitter agonies, and held his mouth as with a 
bridle, when these astonishing words were dropped 



OF SACRIFICES. 141 

from his lips, " Now is my soul troubled, and what 
shall I say V* In the next place, the blood of the in- 
nocent animal now made guilty by imputation, was 
shed, was poured out, and sprinkled around; for 
without the shedding of blood was no remission of sin. 
Talk not, ye papists, of an unbloody sacrifice of ex- 
piation. That it is the blood that makes atonement 
for the soul is asserted by the God of Israel himself, 
who expressly assigns this reason of the strict pro- 
hibition given to his ancient people, ** No soul of you 
shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that so- 
jounis among you." It is easy to see how this pre- 
figured the violent death of the son of Qod, who 
poured out his soul unto death, and whose blood 
cleanses from all sin. The pulling of the skin from 
the butchered animals, dividing their bodies, and 
burning them with fire, are certainly intended to de- 
note the exquisite torments he was to endure, when 
the assembly of the wicked enclosed him, and his 
heart was melted in the midst of his bowels like wax 
before the fire. The towering of the smoke to hea- 
ven, which was sometimes perfumed with burning 
incense, signified how acceptable the sacrifice of 
Christ should be to God, and of what sweet smelling 
savor. In the time of offeiing, prayers were offered 
up. And we know that in the days of his flesh he 
offered up prayers, tears, strong cries, to him that 
was able to save him from death. The blowing of 
trumpets and praising of God, in the times of the 
holy rites, with music, vocal and instrumental, which 
was often practised, may no doubt put us in mind of 
that praise which waiteth for God in Zion, on ac- 
count of purging away our transgression by himself, 
which would have prevailed for ever against us. 
The carrying the blood of the victims into the holy 
place, the figure of the heavenly sanctuary, corres- 
ponds to the intercession of our high priest within 
the vail, where he appears as a Lamb that has been 
slain, 



142 TYPICAL THINGS. 

When the holy rites were finished, atonement was 
made. The guilt of the offerer was abolished when 
his victim was destroyed ; the anger of God was in 
some measure appeased, and he gave signs of recon- 
ciliation. But, as we showed before, it was not in 
these ceremonial actions to atone for any moral guilt, 
except in a typical way. But he whom God hath 
set forth for a propitiation, hath, in the most proper 
sense, fully expiated the sins of all his people, who 
have lived or shall live. In his atonement the be- 
lievers of ancient and latter times have rejoiced, as 
the sole foundation of their hope. And nations yet 
unborn shall be justified by him from all things from 
which they could not be justified by Moses's law. 

The fire that came down from heaven, and con- 
sumed the sacrifices, which doubtless was kept alive 
by the priests upon the altar, was it not an emblem 
of that fierce burning wrath which preyed upon the 
soul of the incarnate Son of God ] or was it an em- 
blem of the Holy Spirit through whom he offered 
up himself, and who is styled the Spirit of burning ? 
or else the fire might signify that fervent love to 
God and man, which many waters could not quench. 
It was love that wrought his death; by this holy 
and pure flame was our atoning sacrifice reduced 
into ashes. 

The altar, what was it 1 His cross, say some. 
Nay, it was rather his divine nature, which like the 
altar supported, and like the altar sanctified, his holy 
humanity, which alone was destroyed. This the 
cross can scarce be said to do, which was but the 
instrument of man's cruelty, and a despicable piece 
of timber, which neither sanctified the body which it- 
carried, nor received sanctification from it. Where 
then are they who address it with divine honors, 
ind pay even to its picture that homage which is due 
"o him alone that expired in agonies on that shame- 
ail tree. 



143 



IX. THE ORDINANCE OF THE PASSOVER. 

The fatal night was now arrived, when the de- 
stroying angel was to smite all the first bom of 
Egypt, and the chief of their strength in the taber- 
nacles of Ham. This last and sorest plague shall 
break the unrelenting heart of Pharaoh, and dismiss 
the oppressed Israelites from his cruel yoke. But 
mark the goodness of their God, in providing for 
their safety amidst the general devastation ! They 
are directed to sprinkle on their door posts the 
blood of a lamb, whose qualities, the manner of its 
death, and the rites wherewith they were to eat its 
flesh, are very minutely prescribed, and left upon 
record for the generations to come. The messen- 
ger of death, they were assured, would not presume 
to enter these hallowed doors, though a thousand 
did fall at their side, and ten thousand on their right 
hand. Then it was that the Egyptian idols did also 
feel the vengeance of the true God : and so mem- 
orable was the night, that the month in which it fell, 
was in all succeeding ages, to be the beginning of 
months, or the first month of the year. A ceremony 
indeed it was that seemed but weak, unmeaning, 
and unprofitable : but, penetrating the outward vail, 
let us try to discern the hidden mystery by that 
same faith through which Moses kept the passover, 
and the sprinkling of blood, that he which destroy- 
ed the first-born should not touch him. Its meaning 
we are not now left to explore by our own wit : for 
that it was a prophetical type, and a very expressive 
image of the Lamb of God, that takes away the sin 
of the world, an inspired apostle gives us to know, 
by telling us, that " Christ our passover is sacrificed 
for us." 

A lamb was chosen out of the flock ! Emblemat- 
ical of him who was taken from among men, and 



144 TYPICAL THINGS. 

raised up from among his brethren, and, Hke that 
lovely creature, did injury to none, though he re- 
ceived from many, and is useful in life and death, 
being at once our clothing and our food. It was a 
male of the flock of a year old ; for Christ is a Son 
given unto us, and suffered in the flower of his age. 
But without blemish and without spot. Though 
descended from an impure' race of ancestors, he 
brought no stain of sin into the world with him. 
And though he long conversed with sinful men, and 
grappled with strong temptations, he contracted not 
the smallest taint. Even Judas and Pilate attested 
that he was just and upright; the last before he 
condemned, and the first after he betrayed him. 
On the fourteenth day of the month Abib, the 
Lamb was fetched from the field, and on the nine- 
teenth day at even it was killed by all the Jews in 
the place which the Lord did choose. Even so he 
of whoin these things wpre spoken, went up to Je- 
rusalem ^ve days before the pass over, where with 
wicked hands he was taken, crucified, and slain. 
The lamb was roasted with fire. It was the fire of 
the Father's wrath, O immaculate Lamb of God, 
that forced thee to complain, " My heart is like 
wax, it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My 
strength is dried like a potsherd : my tongue 
cleaves to my jaws." A bone of the lamb was 
not to be broken, and none of it was to be left un- 
til morning. To accomplish the first, the soldiers 
brake not his legs, as was usual ; and to fulfil the 
last, he was taken down from the cross the same 
evening in which he died. In vain had the Israel- 
ites killed the lamb, if they had not also sprinkled 
its blood with the hyssop upon the door posts. And 
Christ is to us dead in vain, unless applied by faith 
unto the conscience. His blood must not be 
sprinkled behind the door; for we must publicly 
profess, that we are not ashamed of the cross of 



ORDINANCE OF THE PASSOVER. 145 

Christ : nor below the door ; for it must not be 
trodden under foot ; but above, and on every side, 
on all that we are, on all that we have, and on all 
we do. Indeed by his all penetrating eye, the doors 
of the house and heart are seen with equal clearness. 
Had a presumptuous Israelite despised this ordi- 
nance of God, and neglected to sprinkle his doors 
with blood, he was not within the limits of the di- 
vine protection; yea, he had ventured abroad in 
that perilous night, the angel was not bound to spare 
him. So when the arrows of destruction are flying 
thick and fast, the blood of Jesus is our only sanc- 
tuary. Of this only can we say, See, O God, our 
shield : we are indebted to thy atoning blood for 
blessings that far transcend deliverance from Egyp- 
tian bondage, or from temporal death. By thy 
blood we are delivered from the wrath that is to 
come. Thou art our hiding place. Under this co- 
vert of thy blood, we shall not be afraid of sudden 
fear, nor of the desolation of the wicked ; but shall 
dwell in peaceable habitations, sure dwellings, and 
quiet resting places, nigh which no plague shall 
come. Many a time the haughty tyrant of Egypt 
was frighted by the awful prodigies wrought by 
Moses, but never was thoroughly subdued till the 
blood was sprinkled. Then the prey was taken 
from the mighty. In vain he pursues after them, for 
never more shall they wear his chain. So many a 
time the prophecies of Christ might fright the black 
prince of hell, but never was he thoroughly sub- 
dued, till on the cross he spoiled principalities and 
powers, and made a show of them openly, triumph- 
ing over them in it. Even so his elect people are 
said to overcome, by the blood of the Lamb, the 
enemy of their salvation. By this same blood the 
idols are utterly abolished. As in that night of des- 
olation the temples of Egypt were not spared more 
than the palaces; so in the days of the Messiah 



146 TYPICAL THINGS. 

shall a man cast his idols of silver and gold, which 
he made for himself to worship, to the moles and to 
the bats, to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into 
the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, 
and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to 
shake terribly the earth. Well may this happy 
period be unto us the beginning of months. If the 
beginning of the year was changed to the Israelites, 
and the seventh became the first month, much more 
may the beginning of the week be altered to the 
Christians, and the seventh day be changed for the 
first, for a sabbath unto the Lord ; for on that day a 
much more glorious work was finished, than when 
he brought Israel out of Egypt, or even when 
he finished the heavens, and all their host, and laid 
the foundation of the earth. 

We have seen how the blood of the Lamb was 
sprinkled, and the happy consequences of this sym- 
bolical action, let us now attend how its flesh was to 
be eaten, and how we are made partakers of Christ, 
who is at once our shield to protect us from danger, 
and our food to preserve our soul in life. It was 
eaten roasted, for Christ is savory to faith. A bone 
must not be broken, and mysteries must not be too 
curiously pried into. A whole lamb must be eaten 
in every house ; and a whole Christ received by 
every believing soul. It must be eaten in haste; 
and whatsoever our hands findeth, should be done 
with all our might. The bitter herbs signified the 
bitterness of contrition for sin, and of the tribulation 
we shall have in this world. Unleavened bread is 
sincerity and truth. The loins girt, and feet shod, 
signifies the girding up the loins of the mind and the 
preparation of the gospel of peace, or a readiness 
to every good work. The staff* in the hand might 
signify that here we have no continuing city. The 
passover was only to be eaten by the circumcised 
and the clean ; but if a man was unclean by reason 



ORDINANCE OF THE SCAPE-GOAT. 147 

of a dead body, or in a journey afar off, he was 
permitted to keep a second passover on the four- 
teenth day of the second month. Here let us end 
adoring that condescending love that has appeared 
toward us the sinners of the Gentiles. At the first 
passover, we were uncircumcised and unclean by 
reason of death, we were afar off, and without God 
in the world. But us hath he quickened who were 
dead in trespasses and sins ; and in Jesus Chnst we 
who sometimes were afar off, are made nigh by the 
blood of Christ. Therefore let us keep the feast ; 
for even Christ our second, Christ our best passover, 
is sacrificed for us. 



X. ORDINANCE OF THE SCAPE-GOAT. 

Of all the ceremonies enjoined in the book of Le- 
viticus, (that gospel of Moses,) none were more sig- 
nificant, as we may well presume, and expressive of 
evangelical mysteries, than those prescribed on the 
solemn anniversary of general atonement. The 
rites of this solemn day, though in themselves but 
carnal ordinances, were, in their use, shadows of 
good things to come, and, without all doubt, ex- 
pounded in this view unto the people by the godly 
priests, whose lips kept knowledge. To what pur- 
pose else had been the multitude of their sacrifices 
unto him, who delights not in the blood of bullocks, 
or of he-goats 1 On this day the Jewish high-priest 
was not first to array himself with the most costly 
attire, but with his linen garments. An emblem of 
the Christian High-Priest's incarnation, who, when 
he came to expiate our sin, did not array himself 
with light as with a garment, but with the robe of 
our human nature, which, though clean and white, 
was without splendor or magnificence. On this day 



148 TYPICAL THINGS. 

he offered expiatory sacrifices both for himself and 
all the people. Jesus, in all things thou must have 
the pre-eminence ! For such an High-Priest hecame 
us, who needs not, as these high-p?'iests, offer first for 
his ovm sin, and then for the people : for the law 
makes men priests that had infirmities ; hut the word 
of the oath that was since the law, maketh the Son, 
who is consecrated for ever more. On this day he 
made his solemn entrance into the holy places made 
with hand, with the blood of bulls and goats. 
The meaning of which the great apostle declares, is 
the entrance of Jesus Christ, the High-Priest of 
good things to come, by a greater and more perfect 
tabernacle, into the holy place not made with hands, 
that is into heaven itself, having obtained eternal 
redemption for us. 

But what we shall chiefly confine our attention to, 
for the present, is another ceremony peculiar to this 
day of atonment. Besides the bullock and the ram 
which Aaron was to offer, the first for himself, and 
the second for the people ; he was also to take for 
all the congregation of Israel, two kids of the goats 
for a sin-offering. They were to be brought as usu- 
al, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 
But both were not killed as was usually done ; for 
by an uncommon rite, the two victims were pitched 
upon by lot, the one to be offered up in the accus- 
tomed manner unto the Lord, and its skin, its flesh, 
and dung, to be burned with fire, without the camp ; 
— the other to be presented alive before the Lord, 
where Aaron, laying both his hands upon its head, 
confessed over him all the iniquities of the children 
of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their 
sins : and lastly, it was to be conducted into the wil- 
derness by the hand of a proper person, (who, they 
say might be either a Gentile or an Israelite,) and 
probably it was never more inquired after, where- 
fore it might be called azazel or the scape-goat. — 



ORDINANCE OF THE SCAPE-GOAT. 149 

We shall, for the present, leave for others the dis- 
cussion of some curious inquiries about the name 
and fate of this devoted creature, and proceed to 
notice how in both these victims Christ was set foith 
as the propitiation for our sins. 

It is true indeed, that the goat is none of those 
creatures that are supposed to have the most amia- 
ble properties. And it may seem odd, that the lamb 
of God should be prefigured by these beasts, which 
for their uncleanly and unruly temper, are emblems 
of the wicked, who in the last day shall be separated 
from the godly by the Judge of all the earth. But 
perhaps even this circumstance in the type might 
signify that Christ was to appear in the likeness of 
sinful flesh. The g^oat though commonly held an 
unclean creature, was, notwithstanding, of the num- 
ber of clean beasts in the law of Moses; and Jesus 
Christ, though reputed a sinner among men, was 
pure and righteous in the eye of God. And if it be 
true what is commonly reported, of the medicinal 
qualities of this creature's flesh, and of its blood soft- 
ening rigid adamant ; what hinders us to think of 
Christ healing our diseases, taking away our hard 
and stony hearts, and give us hearts of flesh. 

But wherefore two goats ? Or if two, why not 
both used in the same manner ] Why was one 
of them put to death and the other saved alive ] 
Doubtless they are .both to be viewed as types 
of the great propitiation. The first goat may sig- 
nify that complete satisfaction which Christ made 
to vindicate justice by offering up himself; and the 
second goat may signify the happy consequence of 
his propitiatory sacrifice, in finishing transgression, 
making an end of sin, and cariying it, as it were in- 
to the land of forgetfulness, that, to use the elegant 
words of Jeremiah, *' When the iniquity of the 
house of Israel, shall be sought for, there should be 
none, and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be 

8 



150 TYPICAL THINGS. 

found." Nor ought it to seem strange, that »uch a 
momentous truth should be inculcated in so many 
various ways on the sarije occasion ; for it is a sin- 
gular effect of the goodness of God, to exhibit such 
interesting truths in different views, that we may 
have strong consolation. Besides that, all similitude 
and types fall infinitely short of the great mysteries 
they point at, therefore they are multiplied, that 
they may mutually supply the deficiencies of one 
another : for here the saying is made good, " Two 
are better than one ; for if they fall, the one will 
lift up his fellow.'' 

That the first goat was an emblem of Christ sacri- 
ficed for us, as much as any other sacrifices, is not 
difficult to persuade. For like other sacrifices it was 
killed, because Christ was to die. Its blood was car- 
ried within the vail ; for Christ was to appear in the 
presence of God for us with his own blood. Its 
body was burned without the camp ; and Christ 
suffered without the gate. But let us more particu- 
larly attend the mystei-y of the scape-goat, and its 
likeness to Jesus Christ. 

It was, like the other, to be taken from the con- 
gregation of Israel, and doubtless purchased with 
the public money. So Christ was taken from among 
his brethren, and bought, in some sense, for thirty 
pieces of silver out of the public treasury, that he 
might be numbered with trans gTOssors, and bear the 
sins of many. 

It was like the other presented at the door of the 
tabernacle of the congregation, before the Lord and 
all the people. So Christ presented himself to do 
his heavenly Father's will before both God and the 
people, when at the passover solemnity he went up 
to Jerusalem, not ignorant of what was to be done 
unto him by the Jews and Gentiles. 

It was, as the other, chosen by lot, which, though 
cast in the lap, is not fortuitous or accidental, for the 



ORDINANCE OF THE SCAPE-GOAT. 151 

disposing is of the Lord. So Jesus Christ was desti- 
nated in tlie eternal counsels to bear the iniquities 
of his people. He was delivered into his enemies' 
hands by the determinate counsel of Grod, and by 
this same counsel, was determined before to be done, 
whatever happened unto him. Hence it w^as that 
Pilate was deaf to the remonstrances of his own 
conscience, in condemning him that was most just ; 
and hence the people of the Jews preferred a mur- 
derer to the Lord of Hfe, when they desired that 
Barabas should be released, and Christ should be 
crucified. 

The sacred animal, being thus presented and cho- 
sen of God, the high-priest was to lay both his 
hands on its head, devoting it by this action to the 
service of God, and translating the sins of Israel 
upon it in a typical manner. Perhaps it might sig- 
nify, that the hand of vindictive justice was to lie 
heavy on the surety of sinners ; and it is expressly 
affirmed by the prophet, *' The Lord hath laid on 
him the iniquity of us all." 

That this was the meaning of the rite, appears 
more evidently from the following one. For in this 
posture did the high-priest confess all the sins of his 
people, from whom the goat was taken. Why should 
their sins be confessed in this manner, if it was not 
to signify, that they were in some sort laid upon the 
head of the innocent victim ] It was thus the great 
Doer of God's will was made sin for us, who knew 
no sin. The goat could not be guilty for these sins, 
for it was a brute beast. Nor could its antitype be 
himself a transgi'essor of the law, for he was a divine 
Person. Yet both the one and the other did bear 
the sins of many, to which it was, in the nature of 
things, impossible that they could be accessary in 
the smallest degree. It was not thy sin, O spotless 
victim ! but the sins of thy elect people ! that con- 
signed thee over to the bloody and shameful cross. 



152 TYPICAL THINGS. 

These were the sinst that took hold upon thee, and 
justified thy death. " Surely, surely, he bore our 
griefs, he carried our sorrows , and the chastisement 
of our peace was upon hirn/' How else could his 
heavenly Father been - pleased to bruise him, for 
whom it is no more good to punish the just, than to 
clear the guilty. 

The devoted creature, thus laden with sin, is by 
the hand of a proper person conducted into the wil- 
derness. Why should not this wilderness be viewed 
as an emblem of these afflictions to which the Surety 
was exposed by the sins he was charged with ] Or 
shall we say, it might be a faint intimation, that the 
blessings of atonement should be extended to the 
world of Gentile sinners, which, in the style of the 
prophet, is called the wildei'ness of the people? Or 
rather the meaning may be, that as the mystic goat 
was never more looked after, or heard of, (for pro- 
bably it would soon perish, if not by hunger, at least 
by wild beasts;) so Jesus Christ, by his atoning 
blood, would take away the sin of the world, and 
remove from them all the iniquities of the elect 
people, as far as the east is distant from the west. 
O condemning law, you have nothing to lay to their 
charge, for Christ is dead. Therefore it is God that 
justifieth, and their sins and iniquities will he re- 
member no more. 

What thanks shall be rendered to that gracious 
Redeemer, who was manifested to restore that glory 
to God which he took not away, and to take 
away that sin of man which he did not introduce % 
Be it so, there are alas ! too many to whom this all 
important truth is of small account, (for some de- 
ride, and more despise it ;) yet to the weary soul, to 
the conscience burdened with guilt, it is grateful 
and delicious as the full flowing stream to the hunted 
hart. The happy soul to whom the doctrine of 
atonement is manifested he hears upon the matter 



ORDINANCE OF THE RED HEIFER. 153 

the voice of the great Jehovah speaking to him in 
such ravishing accents ; " I have made thine iniqui- 
ty to pass from thee ;" or, in the words of Nathan 
to the penitent king David, **The Lord hath taken 
away thy sin ; thou shalt not die. Who would not 
be constrained by this love to put away the evil of 
their doings from before his eyes, who hath put 
away the guilt of them from before his face ] 

Draw near all ye whose consciences are burdened 
with the intolerable pressure of a thousand aggra- 
vated iniquities, who are ready to cry. Mine iniqui- 
ties are gone over my head, they are a hnrden too 
heavy to bear. While some, with Cain, go from the 
presence of the Lord, and drown their dismal 
thoughts in the delights of sense, or else in the 
whirl of business — whilst others have no ground of 
comfort but the general and unatoned mercy of God 
— whilst a third sort deiive comfort to their troubled 
hearts from their own imperfect righteousness, their 
tears of repentance, their sorrow for what is past, 
and their resolutions to do better for the future ; 
confess your iniquities over the head of the New 
Testament scape-goat; for he who thus confesseth 
and forsaketh, will find mercy. Thus runs the 
gracious promise of the Holy One of Israel. ^^ By 
his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify 
many : for he shall bear their iniquities.'' But he 
that despises this way of peace, shall bear his own 
burden, whosoever he be. 



XL ORDINANCE OF THE RED HEIFER. 

Having seen the mystery of the lamb that was 
slain, and the goat that was sent away, we come 
next to the red heifer, whose ashes sprinkling the 
unclean, did sanctify to the purifying of the liesh, 



154 TYPICAL THINGS. 

when defiled by touching corpses, graves, and dead 
men^s bones : and we shall see how it signified the 
sprinkling of Christ's blood upon our souls, to purge 
our conscience from dead works, to serve the living 
God. 

It was an ordinance which God was pleased to 
enjoin in a very punctual manner: for ^' The Lord 
spake unto Moses, and unto Aaron, saying," this is 
the ordinance of the law which the Lord hath com- 
manded." Indeed, what but the authority of God 
could have reconciled the minds of the ancient church 
to such a burdensome yoke of ceremonies ] There- 
fore the Hebrew law-giver takes such particular 
care to inculcate every where, that he delivered no 
laws unto them which he received not from the 
Lord. No wonder that the whole system of cere- 
monial worship was purely founded on the sovereign 
pleasure of God, when it was intended to shadow 
forth that adorable plan of redemption which arises 
from the same source, and is styled in the New Tes- 
tament the mystery of his will. It is this that imparts 
a venerable air to all those rites, which had they 
been of human institution alone, would have merited 
contempt of lidicule. Let us for one proof of this, 
obsei-ve the qualities, the sufferings, and the use of 
this heifer. These we shall see are capable of being 
fairly applied to Jesus Christ, who gave himself for 
us, that he might purify us unto himself, a peculiar 
people, zealous of good works. 

What then were the qualities required in this vic- 
tim ? It was a heifer. Perhaps to intimate, that in 
Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female ; or to 
signify that he would assume our nature, not in its 
strongest state of innocence, but in its enfeebled state 
of sin and misery : for he was made in the likeness 
of sinful flesh, and compassed with infirmity. It was 
a red heifer. The reason of this, (say the Jews) 
was hid from Solomon himself, but it is not perhaps 



ORDINANCE OF THE RED HEIFER. 155 

altogether concealed from the meanest believer, who 
knows that his Savior came from Eden, with dyed 
garments from B=o:zrah ; or that he is clothed with a 
vesture dipped in blood. Red is a color of beauty ; 
and he is fairer than the children of men. Red is a 
color of strength, and he is the one that is mighty. 
Red is the color of guilt ; and he took the scarlet 
and crimson colored robes of our imputed sin, that 
he might clothe us with the robes of his imputed 
righteousness, whiter than w^ool, purer than snow. 
It was a heifer without spot or blemish. Indeed this 
was required in every victim, and in Christ the holy 
One of God it was fulfilled. An unatoned God ac- 
cepts nothing less than the most absolute perfection ; 
an omatoned God was he with whom our Savior had 
to do. It is tlierefore easy to see, that any the small- 
est spot w^ould have entirely disqualified him from 
approaching unto God in an acceptable manner. It 
was a heifer on which never came yoke. As man 
he never canue under the yoke of sin : and as God 
he was not under the yoke of duty, that is, he was 
not obliged to obey the law. If he paid tribute to 
the temple, he was not obliged to do so. (For even 
the kings of the earth hold their own children free 
from paying taxes.) But lest he should offend them 
who were ignorant of his true character, he pays 
the tribute, not with money out of his private pocket, 
but, to show that he w^as Lord of all, with money he 
commanded a fish to bring from the bottom of the 
sea. IFhe appeared in the form of a servant, it was 
wholly owing to his voluntary condescension. If 
he expires in agonies on a cross, it is not because his 
life is violently taken away by the hands of sinful 
men, but because he laid it down of himself. There- 
fore does his father love him; therefore is his obe- 
dience and death strictly meritorious ; and because 
he has done more than was his duty to do, he is not 
an-TLin profitable sen^^ant. 



156 TYPICAL THINGS. 

When a heifer was found in which these quaUties 
did meet, what was to be done unto her '? First of 
all, she is brought to Eleazar the piiest. Here in- 
deed the type is defective ; for our high-piiest and 
sacrifice are the same. Next she is brought without 
the camp : for Christ suffered without the gate. She 
was killed before his eyes. So Christ was crucified 
and slain in the most public manner. Her flesh, and 
skin, and blood, were burned in fire, together with 
her dung. So Christ sufiered in the whole man ; 
and when he endured the wrath of God, which is 
often compared to fire, they cast upon him the dung 
of the most virulent reproaches. But what shall we 
say to the cedar wood, the scarlet cloth, and the hys- 
sop, that were thrown also into the burning ] Per- 
haps it never was intended by the Holy Ghost, that 
every minute circumstance in that ritual worship 
should have a separate meaning affixed to it. Many 
usages were doubtless to be practised in the ancient 
dispensation, with no other view than to testify their 
absolute submission to the divine will. What if we 
should say, that the cedar wood, the scarlet, and the 
hyssop, were the materials of which they made the 
sprinkler, but first these very things must be thrown 
into the fire ; so the means and ordinances by which 
the clean water of Christ^s blood is sprinkled on our 
souls, are themselves first sanctified by his sufferings ? 
Or the scarlet cloth might denote the guilt of sin, 
which was the cause of his death. The hyssop 
might signify the necessity of its being apjilied unto 
the conscience, or of the sprinkling the blood of 
Jesus upon our hearts. And the cedar w ood, which 
is durable and fragrant, might adumbrate the sweet 
savor of his sufferings, and the perpetual efl^icacy of 
his atoning blood. 

But when the heifer was thus reduced to ashes, 
are they sufiered to lie and rot with the common 
earth, or to be scattered by the winds ? No, they 



ORDINANCE OF THE RED HEIFER. 157 

were carefully to be gathered up by a clean person ; 
and deposited in a clean place without the camp, 
where they are to be kept, in order to make with 
them a purifying water to sprinkle the unclean^ 
Who would have thought the ashes of a burned heif- 
er worthy of such regard, had he judged only by 
outward appearance ] But though seemingly vile, 
they were really precious by the divine ordinance. 
Even so the death and crucifixion of the dying Re- 
deemer, though in appearance an event worthy of 
small regard, was in reality the most memorable 
transaction that ever the sun beheld. Precious in 
the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. How 
much more the death of his beloved Son % His 
blood, though trodden under foot by many, and by 
many esteemed as water spilt on the ground, is not- 
withstanding, the price of our redemption, and infi- 
nitely more valuable than gold and silver, and all 
corruptible things. The clean place where the ashes 
were deposited, was it an emblem of the church, 
where alone the sacred treasure of his blood is dis- 
pensed % It was without the camp. Perhaps to 
intimate, that those who were without the common- 
wealth of Israel should partake the cleansing efficacy 
of Christ's blood ; and that God would put no dif- 
ference betwixt them and his ancient people, purify- 
ing their hearts by faith. Or shall w^e say, that as 
the precious relics were to be laid in a clean place ; 
so the mystery of faith in his blood can only be held 
in a pure conscience ] The ashes thus preserved 
were fit for us upon every occasion, as long as they 
lasted, whereas the blood of common sacrifices soon 
congealed, and was unfit to be sprinkled when it 
grew cold. Was not this a significant emblem of 
the everlasting fitness of Christ's blood to purge the 
guilty conscience % For it is no less capable of being 
sprinkled now, than the moment it was shed, being 
always warm, always new and living blood. Let us 

8* 



158 TYPICAL THINGS. 

consider, in a few words, the occasion for keeping 
these purifying ashes, the manner of preparing them, 
the rite by which they were sprinkled, and the dan- 
ger of neglecting it. 

The occasion for the ashes, was the uncleanness 
of the Israelites, or strangers that sojourned among 
them, by reason of the necessary and voluntary or 
involuntary and accidental touch of dead corpses, 
bones, and graves. The touch of these defiled them 
legally, and debarred them from access to the sanc- 
tuary of God. But our defilements now arise not 
from dead corpses, but from dead works, the sins 
we daily commit. " Wretched men that we are, 
who shall deliver us from this body of death 1 " Yea, 
what else are the best duties we can perform, but 
dead works, if God should enter into judgment ] 
Even these need to be buried out of our sight, and 
covered from the view of impartial justice with the 
covering of Immanuel's righteousness. And till we 
are purged from these we cannot serve the living 
God. 

The manner of preparing these holy ashes, was to 
mix them with running water in a vessel. An em- 
blem of that divine Spirit which they that believe 
on Christ shall infallibly receive, by whose invisible, 
but powerful operation, the blood of Christ is made 
effectual to purify our hearts. As the ashes were 
mixed with the water in this typical ordinance, so 
the blood and Spirit of Christ are undivided in their 
working : for they that are justified in the name of 
the Lord Jesus, are washed in the same name by 
the Spirit of our God; and from them whom he 
spnnkles with clean water, he takes away the hard 
and stony heart. 

The rite of sprinkling was in this manner. On the 
third day and on the seventh day after the pollution 
was contracted, a clean person, dipping a bunch of 
hyssop in the purifying liquor, was to sprinkle the 



ORDINANCE OF THE RED HEIFER, 159 

unclean ; and on the evening of the seventh day, but 
not before he was perfectly cleansed. Let the clean 
person be an emblem of the ministers of the gospel, 
who have the precious treasure of Christ's purifying 
blood and Spirit as it were in earthen vessels. These 
ought (at least) to be clean persons, and an example 
in purity, to the believers among whom they minis- 
ter. Let the bunch of hyssop represent the ordin- 
ances of the gospel, or faith, both of which are the 
applying means. The third day was the time of the 
first sprinkling. We may here take occasion to 
think, that on the third day Christ rose again from 
the dead : and here indeed began our purging from 
guilt, for he was raised for our justification. On the 
seventh day, the last of a weekly revolution, the pu- 
rification was complete on the evening. Nor will 
we be perfectly cleansed from the inheritance of 
moral stains till the evening of death, and the com- 
mencement of the eternal Sabbath. Thus shall he 
sprinkle, not a small number of Israelites, but many 
nations, not merely from the impurities of the flesh, 
but from the pollutions of the conscience. Though 
we are defiled not only with smaller transgressions, 
but with the most deadly and abominable iniquities, 
or to use the Old Testament phrases, though we have 
not only touched, but remained among the graves, 
and lodged in the monuments ; yet if we come to 
Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the 
blood of sprinkling, w^e shall be clean through the 
word that he has spoken unto us. 

The danger of neglecting this ordinance was no 
less than excision from the congregation of the Lord. 
So shall they perish as the vilest part of the creation, 
who say, they are not polluted, when the judgment 
of unerring wisdom about all the children of men, is, 
They are altogether become filthy : or who turning 
away disdsinfully from the fountain opened for sin 
and for uncleanness, think to wash out their stains 



160 TYPICAL THINGS. 

by the nitre and soap of their own endeavors ; for 
God shall plunge them into the ditch, and their own 
clothes shall ahhor them. 

One other circumstance deserves to be noticed, 
before we leave this subject. The very same water 
that sanctified the unclean, defiled the man who 
touched or sprinkled it, though he was clean before. 
, Perhaps this might denote the imperfection of these 
shadows, which never could make them perfect by 
whom they were used ; or it might intimate, that the 
virtue of divine institutions depends not on the per- 
son that ministers about them. Or shall we say, 
that faith in Christ's blood, like this consecrated 
water, defiles them that are clean, by discovering 
more of their natural pollution ; and cleanses them 
that are defiled, by sprinkling their hearts from an 
evil conscience % But it is certain the effects of this 
water were not more contrary than these of Christ 
himself, as preached in the gospel, who is to some 
the savor of life, and to others the savor of death. 



XII. THE ORDINANCE OF THE YEAR 
OF JUBILEE. 

The institution of the jubilee was none of the 
least remarkable regulations in the commonwealth 
of Israel, and deserves our special attention. Be- 
sides the rest which the land enjoyed every seventh, 
it was ordained to rest also every fiftieth year. The 
husbandman was forbid to subdue his field with the 
plough, or to scatter his seed in the furrows. What 
the earth spontaneously produced, whether corn or 
vines, might be indifferently used by all, and was 
the special property of the poor inhabitants of the 
land. The God who commanded this, was fully 
able to compensate the want of harvest and vintage, 



ORDINANCE OF THE JUBILEE. 161 

by crowning the year preceding with uncommon 
plenty. But besides the intermission of sei-vile 
labor in this extraordinary year, it was the will of 
Grod, that, by its welcome approach, the poor Israel- 
ite should reap great advantages, and enjoy very 
valuable immunities. The insolvent debtor was 
delivered from his creditor. The hired servant re- 
gained his former liberty, and inheritances reverted 
to the families to which they originally belonged. 
The joyful sound of trumpets announced the com- 
mencement of this year of liberty, and they were 
blown on the day of atonement, when they were 
fasting for their sins, and afflicting their souls. This 
was the fast which the Lord did choose, to undo 
heavy burdens, and let the oppressed go free. In 
short, it was a time of the restitution of all things 
in the commonwealth, and a remedy against the 
caprice of fortune, or rather the inequalities which 
sovereign providence introduces among men as to 
their outward state. 

Several things might be suggested to evince the 
propriety of this regulation, viewed in a civil as well 
as a religious light. It was admirably well calcu- 
lated to promote brotherly love, to prevent the ruin 
of families, whether by avarice or prodigality, to 
preserve the distinction of tribes, till the Messias 
should come, and to impress upon their hearts a 
sense of their absolute dependence upon God as 
their great landlord, whose property the land was, 
and with whom they were strangers and sojourners. 
Therefore it was to be sold only for a time, and not 
for ever. 

But let us raise our thoughts still higher to the 
year of grace, and day of salvation, wherein far 
greater immunities are proclaimed to the human 
race, than were announced to the Israelites by the 
trumpet of the Jubilee. Detesting the impious im- 
itation of this sacred ordinance in the pretended 



162 • TYPICAL THINGS. 

jubilee of Rome, let us take occasion to meditate on 
that happy season, which, in allusion to this very 
thing, is styled by the prophet, tlie year of God's 
redeemed^ and the acceptable year of the Lord. 
Joyful was the sound of liberty to the poor Israel- 
ite who was drowned in debt, for which he was 
obliged to part with his beloved freedom, and to sell 
the inheritance of his fathers. But more joyful is 
the sound of liberty to the wretched sinner, who is 
deep in arrears to the divine justice, a miserable cap- 
tive of sin and wrath, and utterly deprived of all 
inheritance in the heavenly kingdom. *^ O blessed 
are the people that know this joyful sound ! They 
shall walk, O Lord, in the brightness of thy coun- 
tenance. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day, 
and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.'' 
But a more particular attention to what Moses in- 
forms us about this grand festival, will discover unto 
us the resemblance betwixt the trumpet of the 
jubilee, and the trumpet of the gospel, whose sound 
far from being confined to Judea alone, is gone 
through all the earth, of which the prophet Esaias, 
rapt into future times, utters that glorious prophecy, 
which has received its accomplishment in the days 
of the Messiah : ^*And it shall come to pass, that 
the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall 
come which were ready to perish in the land of 
Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and 
shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jeru- 
salem." 

The time when this glad signal was given by the 
solemn sound of trumpets, was the tenth day of the 
seventh month, or the day of atonement ; a day 
wherein the future expiation of the Messiah was 
clearly exhibited, in the goat that was slain, and in 
the goat that was sent away, and in other ceremo- 
nies truly significant and expressive. A circum- 
stance this greatly to be observed. Who sees not 



ORDINANCE OF THE JUBILEE. 163 

here, that our jubilee begins in the atonement of 
Jesus Christ, as theirs began on the day in which 
it was prefigured ? The ti'umpet that was not 
sounded on this day, was some other than the jubilee- 
trumpet; and the sermon that is not built on the 
doctrine of atonement, is something different from 
the gospel. O Jesus, were it not for thy bloody 
death, thy glorious resurrection, and still more glo- 
rious ascension, our ears had never heard the gos- 
pel-trumpet's joyful sound, nor of the gifts which 
thou received for men, far sui-passing the gifts and 
immunities of this gladsome year. 

The intermission of toil and labor, in this Sabba- 
tical year, wherein the land was not tilled, and the 
common property which every one had in the spoil 
taneous productions of the earth, may be considered 
as an emblem of that blessed rest which is pro- 
claimed in the gospel of Jesus Christ from the 
works of the law and of the flesh, and fi'om anxious 
carking cares about the good things of this present 
life. He that feeds the ravens without their labour, 
and clothes the lilies without their toil, will certainly 
withhold no necessary thing from the objects of his 
choice regard. The joyful sound forbids you to ask 
with painful anxiety, " What shall we eat ] what 
shall we drink ] and . wherewith shall we be 
clothed]" Leave him who knows your wants to 
answer these perplexing questions. ** Be careful 
for nothing,'' is a cheerful note sent from the gospel- 
trumpet. Hear it, ye happy people who know the 
joyful sound, and turn your timorous cares into be- 
lieving confidence. 

The cancelling of debts at this happy season, may 
well be viewed as an emblem of the forgiveness of 
sin, or that dreadful debt of punishment which all 
the humau race owe to eternal justice, the most in- 
exorable of all creditors. This debt w^e are bom 
under, and are every day contracting more. It is 



164 TYPICAL THINGS. 

marked, every farthing, in the book of God's remem- 
brance, and the time of final reckoning is hasting 
apace. Miserable they whom that awful day shall 
find without a Surety. How can we discharge it, 
who are not able so much as to number it ? But 
these are the charming accents of the gospel jubilee, 
" I, even I, am he that blotteth out your iniquities 
for mine own sake, and will not remember your 
sins." Dismiss your fears, ye poor insolvent debt- 
ors ; for there is forgiveness with your great Creator, 
and for the sake of his dear Son, he will not enter 
into judgment with you. 

The release of servants, and delivering from bon- 
dage, is another joyful sound of the acceptable 
year of the Lord : a privilege so much more glori- 
ous than the liberty of the Israelites, as the slavery 
from which we are redeemed is more miserable 
than the service to which they bound themselves. 
The gospel is a joyful sound of liberty from the 
bondage of God's wrath, which we are taught to 
dread no more with servile fear, but with a filial 
reverence ; — from the bondage of Satan's tyranny, 
that we may no more be led captive at the will and 
pleasure of that wicked spirit; from the fear of 
death, which has subjected many to bondage all the 
days of their life. It is a sound of freedom from 
the law, nor indeed as it is a rule of life, (for the ob- 
ligation to all sorts of religious and civil duties is 
strongly corroborated by the gospel,) but as it is a 
covenant of works. A severe and rigorous master 
indeed ! which accepts no work, if it is not abso- 
lutely perfect ? which never re-admits into favor 
those who in the smallest instance have incurred its 
displeasure, though they should be ever so solicitous 
to do all in their power to please it. Eternal death 
is the smallest punishment it will be satisfied to in- 
' flict, and obedience absolutely perfect the only con- 
dition of acceptance. They who are under the 



ORDINANCE OF THE JUBILEE. 165 

dominion of this rigid lord, (and such are all the 
race of Adam before the gospel comes,) can never 
hope to attain everlasting life, or escape everlasting 
death ; for one sin, though ever so small, will do 
them more harm than all their duties, how many 
soever, can do them good. But we must not forget 
to mention how the gospel is a joyful sound of lib- 
erty and freedom from the domineering power of 
sin, and the lusts of our hearts, which, though divers, 
and often contrary, demand all homage, and perfect 
gratification. Betwixt the bondage of the law, and 
the bondage of sin, there is a most indissoluble re- 
lation, though one would not think so at first view. 
But the great apostle expressly affirms, that the 
strength of sin is the law, and makes not our being 
under the law, but under grace, a reason why sin 
shall not have the dominion over us. Be it so, that 
serving divers lusts and pleasures is not esteemed 
by many as an intolerable thraldom, but on the con- 
trary, they think it a state of liberty to be the ser- 
vants of coiTuption. They are not only madmen 
who glory in their chains, mistaking them for regal 
ornaments. A most unquestionable judge of human 
nature, has taught us, that '' he who commits sin, is 
the servant of sin.'' A saint of the first magnitude 
affirms, that to seek God's precepts is to walk at 
liberty. And who has not heard the dismal groans 
of the blessed apostle, which the body of sin and 
death extorted from the bottom of his heart ? O sin 
what an imperious lord art thou ! and thy service of 
all others the most ignominious, the most laborious, 
and the most unprofitable ; for " the wages of sin is 
death." But the gospel-trumpet says to the prison- 
ers, ** Go forth," and to them in darkness, " Show 
yourselves;" and when they know the truth, the 
truth shall make them fi'ee. 

The reversion of inheritances is the last thing we 
shall notice. We lost our inheritance by the first 



166 TYPICAL THINGS. 

mortal transgression, and were every day resigning 
more and more our claim to the divine favor for the 
transitory pleasures of sin. We have sold for 
nought the invaluable treasures of eternity, and are 
by no means able to redeem w^hat w^e have so 
foolishly foregone. But these are the glad tidings 
of the everlasting gospel. In Jesus Christ, O ye 
children of men, you may obtain an inheritance in- 
finitely more valuable than w^hat returaed to any 
Israelite at the year of liberty, an inheritance of ex- 
ceeding glorious riches, incorruptible and undefiled, 
and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for 
you. The blood of Christ is the price that bought 
dt; the Spirit is the earnest that secures it. And 
when the Redeemer comes again, they shall per- 
fectly enjoy the purchased possession : for " the 
Lord knows the days of the righteous, and their in- 
heritance endureth for ever." 

Happy they who hear by faith the trumpet of the 
gospel jubilee, in this accepted time, who look into 
the perfect law of liberty, and continue therein. In 
the decisive hour of judgment, the trump of God 
itself shall not affright; and even in this present 
state, they shall be brought into the glorious liberty 
of the sons of God : they shall lead them captive 
whose cajjtives they were, and rule over their op- 
pressors. 



XIIL THE LAW OF THE LEPER. 

The law of the leper, which is delivered by the 
Hebrew lawgiver with considerable prolixity, is in- 
deed a portion of sacred writ we are apt to skim 
over with a heedless glance, supposing that very little 
instruction can be derived from such antiquated 
usages as were to be observed about the discovery, 



THE LAW OF THE LEPER. 167 

the separation, and the cleansing of the infected Is- 
raelite. One is apt to wonder at the distemper itself, 
which infected not only the bodies of men, hut their 
garments and houses ; and to be no less surprised, 
that the heavenly Majesty should condescend to give 
such minute directions about the symptoms of the 
leprosy, and the manner of its cleansing. But when 
we consider that everything almost about the typical 
nation was figurative, their diseases not excepted, 
perhaps we may cease to wonder, and willingly ac- 
knowledge, that here, as in other ancient rites, the 
body is of Christ. 

It was a cutaneous distemper well known to the 
Jews, and, as they say, to other nations in those 
parts of the world. Though in itself it was only a 
natural evil, it was, however, inflicted oftentimes by 
the immediate hand of the Lord, as the punishment 
of sin, as in the case of Miriam, Gehazi, and king 
Uzziah. That it was always an indication of any 
flagrant guilt we will not presume to say. But the 
unhappy patient who was seized with that hateful 
malady, was by the divine law excluded from the 
cheerful society of men, and from access to the taber- 
nacle of God, till it should please God to recover 
him, or at least till the symptoms of recovery were 
perceived by the priest by whom the sentence was 
pronounced. But let us take a more exact view both 
of the disease, and the manner of its purgation. 

Was the Almighty displeased with the leprosy ?- 
was his indignation against the poor leper 1 Nay, he 
despises no man for the affliction of his body, how- 
ever loathsome. A Lazarus covered with sores, and 
a Job with biles, are the objects of his special love ; 
while the most wealthy sinner, that wears the finest 
purple, is a vile person in his eyes. Sin is that loath- 
some disease, and the sinner that abominable leper, 
here described. '' Behold, I am vile, I am a man of 
unclean lips, I abhor myself," is the language of the 



168 TYPICAL THINGS. 

convinced soul. An infant wallowing in the blood 
of its nativity, and a sow wallowing in tlie mire, a 
dog returning to his vomit, and a sepulchre exhaling 
the stench of a putrefying carcase, are not greater 
nuisances to the sense, than the soul that lies in sin, 
to the pure eyes of God. Sin is that abhorred lep- 
rosy which spreads its dire contagion far and wide, 
infecting all the duties which the sinner can perform, 
and all the comforts that he tastes ; for to him that 
is defiled and unbelieving, is nothing pure. Beware 
how you approach the society of the wicked, a thou- 
sand times more infectious than the company of the 
filthiest leper. O my soul, be not united to their 
assembly that are the workers of iniquity, if thou 
wouldst keep the commandment of thy God. He 
that was infected with the typical leprosy, was not 
only in danger of defiling those with whom he con- 
versed, but the very gariuents he wore, and the house 
in which he dwelt. But sin has subjected all crea- 
tures to the bondage of corruption. Therefore it is 
revealed, " the elements shall melt with fervent heat, 
and all these things shall be dissolved;'' as the in- 
fected garment was burned with fire, and the infected 
house demolished from its very foundation. The leper 
under the law was excluded from the society of men; 
and when the distemper came to a great height, or 
infected the head, he was to use the signals of deep- 
est mourning, his clothes were to be rent, his head 
bare, and a covering upon his upper lip, and as he 
went he was to cry, Unclean, unclean. But the 
leprosy of sin excludes the miserable soul from all 
intercourse with God, communion with angels, fel- 
lowship with Jesus, society with the spirits of just 
men, and access to the heavenly Jerusalem, where 
nothing that is defiled can enter. O dismal solitude ! 
O teiTible separation ! With what tears shall it be 
deplored ! What tokens of mourning are deep 
enough to express the melancholy state ! And, alas! 



THE LAW OF THE LEPER. 169 

we speak not of a malady that is rarely found. It is 
hereditary to all the sons of Adam without exception: 
for "they are altogether become filthy : there is none 
that doeth good, no not one. How can he be clean 
that is born of a woman V^ 

No wonder the priest was enjoined to proceed 
with extraordinaiy caution, in inspecting the symp- 
toms of this hateful distemper, when so much de- 
pended upon the sentence he should pronounce. A 
person was not to be pronounced unclean on a sud- 
den, nor upon every slight symptom of leprosy that 
might appear in his flesh ; for the suspected Israel- 
ite w^as to be shut up seven days, and on the seventh 
day to be judged according as the symptoms were 
favorable or malignant. This surely was designed 
to inculcate the extraordinary caution wherewith 
the office bearers in the church, as well as others, 
ought to try the spirits, and separate the precious 
from the vile ; and that no man's state should be 
deemed bad, unless there are most evident tokens of 
sin having the dominion over him. Every man who 
had in his skin a spot, freckle, or blister, was not to 
be judged a leper. Nor must we say of every sin 
of infirmity, *'It is not the spot of his children ; for 
in many things we offend all." Again, a man whose 
hair fell off his head or forehead, through the decay 
of nature, or otherwise, though he was bald, yet he 
was not a leper. Nor are they all in a state of sin, 
the vigor of whose spiritual life is much abated, and 
who alas ! have left their first love. Yea, though an 
Israelite w^as seized with a leprosy, if there were 
tokens that it was not gaining upon nature, but that 
nature was expelling it, as suppose the plague was 
not in sight deeper than the skin, or if it spread not 
in the skin, or if the plague was somewhat dark, and 
there were black hairs in the rising, or if it covered 
all the skin from head to foot wheresoever the priest 
looked ; in any of these cases he was not pronounced 



170 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

unclean ; for these were favorable symptoms that the 
distemper had not affected the vitals ; that the whole 
mass of blood was not corrupted ; und that nature' : 
was still strong, and working out the contagion. No 
more must we conclude, that they are all in a bad 
state, who may take up the pitiful complaint of Da- 
vid, ** My loins are filled with a loathsome disease,' 
and there is no soundness in my flesh.'' The leper 
whose plague is not in sight deeper than the skin, 
is he whose life may indeed be stained with some 
external blemishes, but he sins not with all his heart, 
which is still sound in God's statutes. The leper 
whose plague spreads not in the skin, but was at a 
stay, is he who emerges from his fall, like David or 
Peter, by a speedy repentance. Their skin was but 
a scab : they washed their clothes in the blood of 
Christ, and were clean. 

The leper whose plague was somewhat dark, and 
the hairs not turned white, a sure sign of the strength 
of nature, is he who has a principle of life and 
strength within him, that never can be subdued by 
the strongest efforts of sin, but shall prevail at the 
last. The leper who was all turned white in every 
part from head to foot, (a sign that the distemper 
was expelled from the vitals to the external parts, 
and that the cure was as good as wrought,) is he 
who has obtained an evangelical conviction of his 
natural pollution in heart and life, that " he is alto- 
gether become filthy ; and that in him, that is, in his 
flesh, there dwells no good thing." 

But, on the other hand, the bad symptoms were 
such as these : If the hair in the plague was turned 
white ; if the plague was in sight deeper than the 
skin of his flesh ; if there was quick raw flesh in the 
rising ; and if it spread itself further and further in 
the skin. And the worst of all kinds was the leprosy 
in the head : " The priest shall pronounce him utterly 
unclean, his plague is in his head." He that had 



THE LAW OF THE LEPER. 171 

white and yellow hair in the sore of his leprosy, is 
the sinner v/lio has no strength to oppose any tempta- 
tion, and can make no resistance at all to the lusts 
of his own heart : for w^iite hairs are siras of the 

o 

debility of nature, and that death is fast approaching. 
*' Gray hairs," saith the prophet Hosea, '* are here 
and there upon him, yet he knoweth it not." And 
saith the Lord God in Ezekiel, ** how weak is thine 
heart, seeing thou doest all these things ] " 

He whose leprosy was in sight deeper than the 
skin, is an emblem of the sinner who works wicked- 
ness wdth full consent, and from the very bottom of 
his soul, whose transgression proclaims, that, his 
heart is not right in the sight of God, and to whom 
the words of the prophet may be addressed, ** This 
thy wickedness is bitter; it reacheth unto thine 
heart." He that had quick raw flesh in the rising 
of his plague, may perhaps denote the sinner who 
cannot endure to be touched or reprimanded for his 
fault, though in the most gentle manner. This is a 
dangerous symptom indeed ! David, this was not 
thy spot : " Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a 
kindness, let him reprove me, it shall be an excellent 
oil, which shall not break my head." He whose 
plague did spread in the skin, is the sinner who 
waxes worse and worse, and increases unto more un- 
godliness. And, lastly, the man whose plague was 
in the head, is the sinner, the faults of whose life 
proceed from the errors of his mind, whose under- 
standing is debauched by his will, and he is andved 
at such a pitch of wickedness, as to vindicate himself 
in the gratifications of his lusts, and even to glory 
in his shame. He is utterly unclean, and hardly, 
very hardly, shall his cure be effected. But the rites 
of cleansing demand our next attention. 

When it pleased God, who sent this doleful plague, 
to remove it again, the leper was fetched to the pHest, 
or rather the priest unto the leper ; and when upon 



172 TYPICAL THINGS. 

a narrow scrutiny it appeared, the cure was really 
wrought, he was pronounced clean, but not without 
practising various purging ceremonies on the first, 
the seventh, and the eighth day. Jesus Christ is that 
Priest to whom the leprous soul is brought, or rather 
who hath condescended to come to us, who could not 
go to him, because we were polluted in our blood 
without the camp, aliens from the commonwealth of 
Israel. He is come not merely to cleanse them who 
are already healed, like the legal priest, but to heal 
them who without his helping hand were absolutely 
incurable. The Israelite who was brought for cleans- 
ing unto the priest, was himself to provide the neces- 
sary oblations, not without some cost and toil. But 
the High-Priest of good things to come, demands no 
such conditions from those who come for healing to 
their souls : himself has laid out the necessary 
charges, and has by the one offering of himself for 
us, for ever perfected all them who are sanctified. 
But let us more narrowly attend to the ceremonies 
of clea using, in the order wherein they were per- 
formed. 

On the first day of the leper's appearance before 
the priest, the priest was to take for him two birds 
alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and 
hyssop, to make with them a sprinkling instrument. 
An earthen vessel was filled with running water, 
over which one of the birds was to be killed, and 
the other bird, together with the sprinkliag instru- 
ment, being dipt in the bloody water, the leper was 
to be sprinkled with it seven times, and the bird let 
loose into the open field. And the leper, though 
pronounced clean by the priest, was notwithstanding 
to cleanse himself still more, by washing his clothes, 
shaving his hair, and bathing his whole body. And 
after that, he was permitted to come into the camp ; 
but he was to tarry abroad, out of his tent seven 
days. Some have thought, and perhaps not without 



THE LAW OF THE LEPER, 173 

some reason, that the materials which were to be 
procured on this occasion, might be expressive of 
that wholesome state on which the leper was now to 
enter. Before he was in a manner dead, but now 
restored to life, which might be signified by th6 
living birds. Before he was putrefying, and in a 
state of corruption, but now vigorous and robust, 
signified by the cedar. Before he was pale and 
wan, but now of a lively brisk complexion, signified 
by the scarlet. Before he was nauseous to the 
smell, but now cured of his ill scent, signified by the 
hyssop. But what hinders us to think of still greater 
mysteries, and to lift our thoughts to the purging of 
our sins by our great High-Priest ] The two birds 
alive and clean may denote the two natures of Jesus 
Christ. The human nature was put to death, but 
the divine nature was incapable of suffering. By 
the human nature he died for our offences, and by 
the divine nature he rose again for our justification. 
The sprinkling instrument of cedar, scarlet, and 
hyssop, may signify the ordinances of the gospel, 
by which the blessings of Christ's death are commu- 
nicated. The running water is the Spirit of Christ, 
who is always imparted to the heart when the blood 
is sprinkled on the conscience. The earthen vessel 
is an emblem of the ministers of Christ, who, though 
frail and brittle creatures, and despicable in the eye 
of the world, and some but of small capacity and 
size, are intrusted with this invaluable treasure of 
gospel grace, to be dispensed unto others. And 
whereas the priest was to kill one of the birds, this 
intimates that ^' without shedding of blood is no re- 
mission." He was to dip the living bird in the 
blood of the dead one ; this imports, that the blood 
of Christ's humanity is, by the hypostatical union, 
the blood of his divinity, or the blood of God, which 
is the very thing that renders it the blood of atone- 
ment. The sprinkling instrument of cedar, scarlet, 

9 



174 TYPICAL THINGS. 

and hyssop, was to be dipt in the same blood : for 
all the ordinances, and all the means of salvation, 
are sanctified by the blood of Christ alone. In this 
blood, if we may be allowed the expression, must 
ministers dip their sermons if they would be profit- 
able to men ; and in this blood must Christians dip 
their good works, if they expect them to be accept- 
abte to God. The sprinkling the leper seven times, 
signifies that perfect cleanness which is by the blood 
of sprinkling introduced into the conscience, and 
which the royal penitent so pathetically breathes 
after, " Wash me, and I shall be clean, sprinkle me 
with hyssop, and I shall be whiter than the snow." 
The dismission of the other bird into the open field, 
may perhaps denote the resuiTection of the Son of 
God, or that his divine nature was untouched by 
death. Oi' as the living bird received its liberty 
when dipped in the blood of the dead one ; so we 
are made to know the power of his resuiTection, by 
the fellowship of his sufferings, and may truly say, 
" Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of 
the fowler." The leper thus sprinkled according 
to the ordinance, though pronounced clean by the 
priest, was required to shave his hair, and wash 
himself and his clothes in water, that he might be 
clean ; which was not only a precaution to prevent 
relapse, through any relics of the distemper lurking 
in his hair or garments, but may also point forth to 
us this momentous truth, that our being sprinkled 
by our High-Priest with the clean water of his 
blood, does not at all supersede the cleansing our- 
selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. 
There is no person who partakes this glorious privi- 
lege, who endeavors not as his duty to purify him- 
self to lay aside all supei-fluity of naughtiness, to 
put off the old man, and to hate even the garment 
spotted with the flesh, by having no fellowship with 
the unfruitful works of darkness. Nor are his pun- 



THE LAW OF THE LEPER. 175 

fying endeavors to be intermitted, but persisted in 
all the days of his life, as the leper was to repeat on 
the seventh day, the ceremonies of shaving and 
washing : for s an ctifi cation is a gradual and pro- 
gressive work, that shall not be completed till the 
week of this mortal life is fulfilled. Such were the 
ceremonies of the first and of the seventh day. 

On the eighth day, three lambs were to be fetched 
for a trespass-offering, a sin-offering, and a burnt- 
offering, a quantity of fine flour for a meat-offering, 
and one log of oil. If he was not able to afford 
such costly offerings, the Lord accepted such as he 
was able to get, which are also condescended upon 
in the law. These sacrifices being presented, to- 
gether with the leper, before the Lord, were to be 
offered in the usual manner. But the blood of the 
trespass offering, was by a peculiar ceremony, to be 
applied to the extreme parts of the leper's body, the 
tip of his right ear, the thumb of his right hand, and 
the great toe of his right foot. Above the blood the 
oil was to be applied in the same manner, and the 
overplus poured upon his head who was to be 
cleansed. These sacrifices, without all doubt, had 
the same general meaning as other sacrifices ; and 
the peculiar ceremonies were doubtless very signifi- 
cant : as if the priest had said to the leper, ^* I put 
this blood and this oil on your ear, now you are 
free to hear the word of God in any synagogue : 
I put it on your thumb, now you may handle any 
thing, and not defile it : I put them on your toe, 
now you may go where you please, and men will 
not avoid your society." But what forbids us to 
think of still higher mysteries ] These particular 
parts of the body may signify the perceptive and 
executive faculties, in both which we offend, and 
for both which we need the great propitiation. — 
Hervey, Vol, 1, dial 3. Was not this the language 
of that solemn rite ] ^^ Now you are made clean, 



176 TYPICAL THINGS. 

let all your faculties and powers be devoted to the 
service of God. Let your ears be open to the 
commands of God. Let the v^orks of your hands 
be established and accepted by him. Let your 
foot-steps be ordered in his w^ord." The oil that 
vras put upon the blood, most certainly signifies the 
Holy Ghost as a spirit of sanctification. By the 
blood of his merit, he forgives all our iniquities ; 
and by the oil of his Spirit, he heals all our diseases. 
By the first we are j ustified. By the second w^e are 
sanctified. By the one sin shall not condemn, to 
suffer the punishment it deserves ; and by the other 
it shall not command, to obey the orders it gives. 
And v^hereas the remnant of the oil in the priest's 
hand, was to be poured on his head that was 
cleansed; this most undoubtedly prefigured the 
shedding of the Holy Ghost on us abundantly 
through Jesus Christ our Saviour. It is said in one 
place, *^ Ye have an unction from the holy one ;" 
and in another, " He who hath anointed us, is God; 
who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of 
the Spirit in our heart.'' 

How foolish a part had the Israelite acted, who 
had contented himself with making application to 
the physician, without having recourse to the priest 
for the cleansing of his leprosy ! Alas ! the balm 
in Gilead could not supply the place of the sacri- 
ficial blood. Nor do they act a wiser part, who 
seek to the physicians of their own legal endeavors 
for the cure of their leprosy, but not unto Jesus 
Christ, the High-Priest who stands ready with his 
hyssop and blood. Can the rivers of Damascus 
compare with the waters of Israel] Bring us, O 
Lord, to the Jordan of thy grace for cleansing 
these leprous souls. '* Lord, if thou wilt, thou cast 
make us clean. O sprinkle us with hyssop, and we 
shall be whiter than the snow." 



177 



XIV. THE LAW OF THE NEAR KINSMAN. 

It is not for nought, the near kinsman among the 
Jews, and the Lord himself, are ahke denominated 
in the original language of the Hebrews. Why 
should the name Goel be common to him that acted 
the kinsman's part amon^ the Jews, and to the God 
of Israel, if there were not a great resemblance be- 
twixt the kindly offices of the one, and the gracious 
benefits of the other ] And the propriety of this 
observation will more evidently appear from an in- 
duction of particulars. For what the earthly Goel, 
or nearest blood relation was enjoined to do for his 
brother under the law, the heavenly Goel, that is, 
the all gracious Redeemer, hath done in the most 
eminent manner for sinners of the human race un- 
der the gospel. If an Israelite died without 
children, the Goel was to marry his widow to raise 
up seed unto his brother, that his name might not 
perish. If through poverty he had sold away his 
possession, the Goel was to buy back his inheritance. 
If for the same reason, he had sold himself for a 
servant to another man, the Goel was to redeem 
him from his master. And, lastly, if an Israelite 
w^as murdered, his Goel was to avenge his blood, 
by bringing the wilful murderer to suffer condign 
punishment. Waving the political reason of these 
laws, we shall confine ourselves to their allegorical 
interpretation : for on all these accounts the believer 
in the promised Messiah, may say of him with Job, 
I know my Goel liveth. 

Blessed be the Lord who hath not left us this 
day without a kinsman, to marry and raise up the 
seed of good works unto our ban-en nature. Once 
she was fruitful unto God, before the breach of the 
first covenant. But now, alas ! the image of God 
she wore at first is miserably defaced, her husband 



178 TYPICAL THINGS. 

the law is become dead and weak through the flesh, 
and she can bring forth no children unto God, that 
is, can produce no action that bears resemblance 
unto him, or corresponds to the demands of the 
law. Sin and death, these are the only births of 
corrupt nature ; and we may truly say of all men 
in their unrenewed state, " They conceive mischief, 
they bring forth falsehood, and their belly prepareth 
deceit/' At best they can only say, " We have 
labored, we have been in pain, we have brought 
forth wind." But the loving kinsman consented to 
marry this barren nature, by assuming a true body 
and a reasonable soul, its two essential parts, into a 
personal union with himself, and by uniting with 
himself, in a mystical union, a great number of in- 
dividuals of our race. It is true, the match was 
most unequal, and huge difficulties were to be sur- 
mounted before the marriage could be solemnized, 
and the bride prepared for her husband. But his 
love was stronger than death itself, and we are be- 
come dead to the law by the body of Christ, that 
we might be married to another husband; even to 
him that was raised from the dead, that the barren 
woman might keep house, and become a joyful 
mother of children. Now that our Maker is our 
husband, she that was barren hath borne seven, and 
the promise is accomplished, *' Thy wife shall be as 
a fruitful vine by the side of thy house, her children 
like olive plants round about thy table.'' We may 
truly affirm of all the happy souls that are espoused 
to the one husband, " Every one beareth twins," 
the love of God and his neighbor, " and none is bar- 
ren among them." These " children are indeed the 
heritage of the Lord, and this fruit of the womb his 
reward : happy is the man that hath his quiver full 
of them," ** Here am I," will he say in the great 
day of the lord, " and the children whom thou hast 
given me." 



LAW OF THE NEAR KINSMAN. 179 

Blessed be the Lord who hath not left us without 
a Kinsman to redeem the mortgaged inheritance of 
everlasting life, which alas ! we sold away for one 
morsel of forbidden fruit, but are not able to buy- 
back again by all the money of our obedience or 
sufferings. None of our kin were able to pay the 
})rice. For all men being equally involved in the 
same ruin, none of them could redeem his brother : 
and angels, though glorious and perfect creatures, 
yet needed all their holiness for themselves ; and 
had they undertook to pay our debt the would have, 
like the kinsman of Ruth, but married their own in- 
heritance. But lo ! what men and ang-els could not 
have done, the Son of God, clothed in flesh and 
•Tblood, hath completely effected. The ransom was 
paid down in the liquid gold of his precious blood, 
to the utmost farthing of the legal demand. Now 
heaven is a purchased possession, and by thy pov- 
erty we are become rich, O gracious Redeemer, 
who for our sakes becamest poor, though the silver 
and the gold is thine. 

Blessed be the Lord who has not left us without 
a Kinsman to redeem, not only the inheritance to 
us, but us to the inheritance : for being reduced to 
the most abject poverty by the loss of original right- 
eousness, and communion with God, we sold our- 
selves, like the prodigal son in the parable, to the 
most sordid slavery of the devil, sold ourselves for 
a wretched sustenance, the husks that swine do eat. 
From this inglorious servitude we could not by any 
means have extricated ourselves, except the kins- 
man, the Redeemer had come to Zion, had taken 
upon him the form of a servant, and given himself 
a ransom for all. Such was the hard condition of 
our rescue ; but in his love and in his pity he re- 
deemed us, who had sold ourselves for nought : for 
** with the Lord is plenteous redemption, and he will 
redeem Israel from all his iniquities/' 



180 TYPICAL THINGS. 

Blessed be the Lord who hath not left us without 
a kinsman to be the avenger of our blood, when the 
prince of the rebellious angels had massacred the 
human race in the loins of their great progenitor. 
That wicked spirit, stung with fierce resentment 
against the avenging God, and stimulated with envy 
against innocent and happy men, seduced him to 
fall off from his Creator, and to partake of his revolt. 
Thus he was a murderer from the beginning, not 
only of our bodies, which are by his means sub- 
jected unto the first death, but of our souls, that are 
naturally dead in trespasses and sins, and liable to 
everlasting vengeance, which is the second death. 
The holy and righteous law of God was, shall we 
say, the city of refuge to which he fled. He boasted 
" Shall the prey be taken from the mighty ] Shall 
the lawful captive be delivered V^ For having in 
some sense the power of death, the sting of which 
was sin, and the strength of sin was the law, what 
mere creature was able to enter into the palace of 
this strong armed Apollyon, and spoil him of his 
armor ? Whoever enters on this arduous enterprise, 
he must be able to unsting death by satisfying the 
law. Here then let us adopt the sublime rapture of 
the prophet, " The Lord saw it, and it displeased 
him that there was no judgment. And he saw that 
there was no man, and wondered that there was no 
intercessor : therefore his arm brought salvation un- 
to him ; and his righteousness it sustained him. 
For he put on righteousness as a breast-plate, and 
an helmet of salvation upon his head ; and he put 
on the garment of vengeance for clothing, and was 
clad with zeal as with a cloak." Or shall we use 
the style of the New Testament apostle, when 
speaking of this very thing ? " Forasmuch then as 
the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he 
also himself likewise took part of the same, that 
through death he might destroy him that had the 



I 



THE HOLY NATION OF ISRAEL. 181 

power of death, that is, the devil/* The Redeemer 
has died, the Redeemer has risen again, O Satan, 
where is thy power ] O death, where is thy sting ] 
For though " the sting of death is sin, and though 
the strength of sin is the law, thanks be to God 
who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ our 
Lord." The glorious Avenger of our blood has 
not only punish-ed the murderer, (which is all that 
man can do for his slaughtered brother,) but has re- 
stored life to the murdered, that in their own per- 
sons they may overcome the wicked one. Thus 
has he redeemed their soul from deceit and violence, 
and precious has their blood been in his sight. 



XV. THE HOLY NATION OF ISRAEL. 

When the knowledge of the true God was lost 
among the degenerate nations, the family of Abra- 
ham was chosen to be the repository of that most in- 
valuable treasure. It was promised in a solemn man- 
ner to this venerable patriarch, that he should have 
a numerous progeny, and a peculiar seed, that should 
become an universal blessing to the world. In pro- 
cess of time he was the progenitor of a mighty na- 
tion, divided into twelve tribes, who being for a long 
time the only visible society where God was wor- 
shipped, were distinguished from other people with 
very high appellations and valuable privileges. They 
are styled in the Old Testament, ** a peculiar trea- 
sure, a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation, the 
inheritance, the vineyard, the congregation, the tribes 
of the Lord of hosts, and his first-born Son. To 
them pertained the adoption, the glory, the covenants, 
' the giving of the law, the service of God, and the 
promises. They were the fathers, and from them 

the Messias himself, was to spring according to the 

9# 



182 TYPICAL THINGS. 

flesh." This famous nation, after many vicissitudes 
of fortune, were at last, for the horrid crime of re- 
jecting and murdering the Messiah, disinherited by 
the offended God of their fathers, divested of all 
their glorious piivileges, ejected from the land of 
promise, and are become miserable vranderers 
among the nations. 

What shall v^e say then to these things 1 Has 
God cast av^ay his people ? Is there no Israel novvr 
to be found, among w^hom his name is great ] Yes ; 
though Israel according to the flesh is no more the 
people of God, still there is a holy nation, a royal 
priesthood, a peculiar people, a true circumcision, 
that v^orship God in the spirit, and have no confi- 
dence in the flesh. The sinners of the Gentiles, who 
were once polluted as ' dogs, stupid as stones, are 
now by the power of divine grace become the child- 
ren of Abraham and the true Israel of God. John 
saw the Christian Israel sealed in his mysterious 
vision, of every tribe a select number. And the 
twelve apostles of the Lamb are said, in a prophetic 
style, to sit on twelve thrones, and judge the twelve 
apostate tribes of Israel, when they became the spirit- 
ual fathers of the holy Christian nation, of which the 
Israel according to the flesh was a figure. Let us 
see where the resemblance lies. 

And, first. We might obsei-ve the smallness of their 
beginning. They were once but few in number, the 
fewest of all people, as their law-giver told them. 
Though afterwards they received a prodigious in- 
crease, they descended from twelve men, who sprung 
from one as good as dead, that was called being 
alone. Exactly so, the Gentile church, though a 
great multitude that no man can number, are the 
spiritual children of the twelve apostles, who sprung 
from one that was actually dead, though he lives for 
evermore. Though the beginning of the gospel- 
church w^as small, like a grain of seed, or a little lea- 
ven, yet its latter end did greatly increase. 



THE HOLY NATION OF ISRAEL. 183 

Secondly, the number of their enemies desei-ves 
our attention. This ancient people were never with- 
out enemies of one sort or other, in Egypt, in the 
wilderness, and even Canaan itself. The church 
of Christ has always in this state of warfare her 
Egypt, her Amalek, her Edom, her Moab, her Phil- 
istines, and her Babylon. This last being the most 
eminent foe of the ancient race of Israel, is viewed, 
in the prophetic book of the New Testament, as a 
figure of the malignant church, or Antichristian state, 
the most formidable adversary of the true church 
since the ascension of our Lord. And truly, the pro- 
phetic description of ancient Babylon, by whose 
rivers the melancholy captives of Israel sat down and 
wept, are, with the most evident propriety, applied 
by the New Testament prophet to that powerful that 
wealthy, that idolatrous, that persecuting church of 
Rome, that sits on the many waters of kindreds, and 
nations, and people, and tongues. Though, like the 
ancient Babylon, her predecessor and type, she 
should defy all danger, live deliciously, and boast 
she is a queen, and no widow, and shall not know 
the loss of children ; yet at the appointed time, the 
cry of her destruction, her final, her total destruction 
shall be heard : " Daughter of Babylon, near to des- 
truction, blessed shall he be that rewards thee as 
thou hast done unto us." 

The eminent deliverances of Israel is the next 
thing we shall notice. Though they were an afflic- 
ted nation from the beginning, lying among the pots, 
travelling through the floods, traversing the wilder- 
ness, weeping by Babel's streams ; yet " happy wast 
thou, O Israel, a people saved by the Lord, the shield 
of thy help, and the sword of thine excellency." 
The house of bondage could not detain them, the 
waters of the sea could not overflow them, the wil- 
derness could not famish them, and Babylon could 
not hold them in captivity. Who knows not, that 



184 TYPICAL THINGS. 

these illustrious works of God in behalf of his chosen 
seed, are sung in lofty numbers by the inspired pen- 
man, in phrases that describe the common salvation, 
and the redemption of the world from still more 
dreadful foes ? And the illustrious persons, who, 
imder God achieved the several rescues of ancient 
Israel, are spoken of in the prophets in phrases that 
may be well adapted to the Messiah himself. 

The singularity of their laws and customs, which 
were by Heaven's appointment, diverse from all peo- 
ple, was no doubt intended to adumbrate the distin- 
guished sanctity, so different from the fashions of 
this world, which ought to adorn the holy Christian 
nation. The Jews of old were not more ridiculed 
by their scornful neighbors, for the seeming oddity 
of their national usages, than the peculiar people of 
Christ have been in every age, for their zealous at- 
tachment to the divine law, and because they were 
not conformed to this world. 

But a principal thing for which the Jewish nation 
was a typical people, is the glorious national privile- 
ges they possessed, the chief of which we shall men- 
tion. To them belonged the adoption to be God's 
first-born Son, or the election to be his peculiar peo- 
ple : a privilege that exalted them high above all 
nations, and yet was not conferred upon them be- 
cause of their own worthiness or excellency, of what- 
ever kind, but solely because it was the good plea- 
sure of God to bestow this glorious dignity upon 
them. Even so the election and adoption of the 
general assembly and church of the first-born, whose 
names are written in heaven, arises from the same 
source, the good pleasure of his will and purpose in 
grace, not of works, lest any man should boast. To 
them belonged the glorious symbols of the divine 
presence, as the holy temple, the sacred fire, and the 
bright cloud of the sanctuary, though by degrees 
these shadows vanished as the body approached. 



THE HOLY NATION OF ISRAEL. 185 

What nation was so great, to have the Lord so near 
them in the visible tokens of his presence ] None 
but that holy nation, whose prerogative it is to behold 
the glory of the incarnate Word, God manifested in 
the flesh. To them belonged the law or covenant 
of works, ordained in the hand of Moses as a Medi- 
ator betwixt God and them. So to the Christian 
church belongs the law or covenant of works, or- 
dained in the hand of Jesus Christ, the Mediator 
between God and man. Their Mediator could not 
fulfil the law for them; they break the covenant, 
and God regarded them not. But Christ hath mag- 
nified the law, arid made it honorable, by a most 
complete satisfaction, and meritorious obedience. 
To them belonged a civil government, modelled by 
God himself; for their state was a theocracy, and the 
Lord said unto them, " I will be thy king." Exactly 
so, the laws of the New Testament kingdom are all 
enacted by him that sits upon the throne ; nor must 
the ordinances of men claim homage from the sub- 
jects of Jesus Christ, except in so far as they com- 
port with his positive institutions. To them be- 
lonored the service of God, according to these rites 
which himself prescribed. An emblem of that rea- 
sonable and acceptable sei'vice which appertains to 
the true church, and which is found no where but 
among the societies of Christian worshippers. To 
them pertained the promises of rest in Canaan the 
pleasant land, and victory over the devoted nations. 
So to the Christian church belongs the promise of 
everlasting life, and final rest in the better heavenly 
country, to recompense their wanderings through the 
mazy wilderness of this world ; and the promise of 
complete victory over the nations of spiritual foes, 
the lusts that war in their earthly members. A more 
glorious honor this than to storm a city : as " he that 
ruleth over his own spirit, is better than the mighty. 
This honor have all the saints.'' 



186 TYPICAL THINGS. 

Here let us end — adoring the riches of that divine 
goodness in bringing nigh, by the blood of his dear 
Son, those that were far off. Gentiles in the uncir- 
cumcision of their flesh, aliens from the common- 
wealth of Israel — trembling at the severity of divine 
justice towards that sinful nation, who are now^ as 
much depressed below all other people, as once they 
were exalted above them. Let us recollect the apos- 
tle's necessary admonition : " Because of unbelief 
they were broken off, and by faith we stand. Be 
not high-minded, but fear." Happy they who are 
endowed with this noble grace. Such are Israelites 
indeed, " though Abraham be ignorant of them, and 
Israel, according to the flesh acknowledge them not. 
For if we are Christ's, then are we Abraham's seed, 
and heirs according to the promise." 



XVI. THE VICTORY OVER THE NATIONS 

OF CANAAN. 

Before the tribes of the Lord could possess their 
goodly heritage, the numerous and mighty nations 
that dwell in Canaan were first to be expelled. What 
if for once the eternal Sovereign, and just Governor 
of the world shall transfer to a chosen seed, the prop- 
erty of a land inhabited by guilty wretches, and 
" put into their hand a two edged sword, to execute 
vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon 
the people ; to bind their kings with chains, and their 
nobles with fetters of iron ; to execute upon them 
the judgment written :" shall we therefore presume 
to censure the Majesty of heaven as cruel and unjust? 
No : the horrid wickedness of these nations fully 
justified the severity of their doom : and the peremp- 
tory command of God absolves the Israelites from 
the charge of barbarity, in becoming the execution- 



THE NATIONS OF CANAAN. 187 

ers of the sentence. If some in later ages have, with 
equal cruelty and injustice, for Heaven's cause, (a 
horrid pretence !) made desolate the earth, let them 
not plead this precedent : for as such a mandate v^as 
never given before, so shall it never be repeated 
again. But leaving it to God himself to vindicate his 
ways to man as he is well able to do, we shall pro- 
ceed to notice that spiritual privilege of the true Is- 
rael, signified by this victory over the nations. 

Perhaps it was not improper to view it as an em- 
blem of the conquest over the world obtained by 
the first preachers and possessors of Christianity, un- 
der the banner of the cross, though not wdth carnal 
weapons. Though it is very fit that the antichris- 
tian kingdom shall be promoted by the horrid meth- 
ods of torture, massacre, fire and fagot, the Son of 
man came not to destroy men's lives, but to save 
them. If the apostles of the Lamb had a two edged 
sword in their hand, it was the sword of the Spirit, 
which is the word of God : faith was their shield, 
righteousness their breastplate, and their helmet was 
the hope of salvation. Equipt with this armor of 
light, they subdued the nations to the obedience of 
faith : nor could the persecutor's sword, the philoso- 
pher's wisdom, nor the inveterate customs of the 
populace, received by tradition from their fathers, 
retard the progress of their victorious arms, though 
to the outward eye, they seemed but as grass-hop- 
pers before these formidable sons of Anak. 

We might also here take occasion to think of that 
dominion which the upright shall have in the morn- 
ing of the resurrection, when the saints of the Most 
High shall sit with Christ upon his throne, and, in 
such manner as is competent unto them, shall judge 
the world of wicked men and angels. Even in this 
imperfect state, the lustre of divine grace, and beau- 
ties of holiness, have commanded respect and vene- 
ration in the minds of proud and wicked men. A 



188 TYPICAL THINGS. 

judge has trembled before a prisoner, and a fox has 
feared a lamb. These are the preludes of that final 
superiority of the righteous in the decisive hour of 
judgment, when the evil shall bow^ before the good, 
and be ashamed for their envy at the people they 
despised. 

But chiefly the Canaanites we must endeavor to 
extirpate, are the lusts that war in our members, 
that war against the soul. Against these inward 
foes must we lift the hand of violence if we mean 
to take the kingdom of heaven. Israelites indeed, 
here point your revenge, here bend your indignation! 
To pity these is the highest cruelty to yourselves, 
and to make any league with them is to be overcome. 
To mingle with these nations, was fatal to Israel of 
old ; they were forbid to seek their peace or their 
wealth for ever ; but if they should cleave to the 
remnant of these nations on whatever pretence, 
"know for certain, that the Lord your God will no 
more drive them out, but they shall be snar-es and 
traps unto you, scourges in your sides, and thorns in 
your eyes, and shall vex you in the good land where- 
in ye dwell." Such grieving thorns are unmorti- 
fied corruptions in our hearts : and if we consult 
our peace and safety, it will be our constant work 
to weaken their power by all possible means. But 
to attempt a reconciliation of holiness and sin, to 
meditate peace between these contrary principles, 
is to entail upon ourselves a source of perpetual dis- 
quietude. 

The Canaanitish nations were not only the first 
inhabitants of the country, but greater in number 
and mightier in power than Israel their conqueror. 
So in the holy war, the sin that dwells in the soul, is 
the first possessor, and mightier than the principle 
of grace received. Thanks to its omnipotent Ally, 
that iniquity prevails not against it, even to a total 
victory. Let none be deterred from fighting the 



ALLEGORY OF HAGAR AND SARAH. 189 

good fight of faith against these inward enemies, 
though perhaps some branches of the body of sin 
may seem so vivacious, as even to gather new hfe 
from their foils : may seem to have entrenched them- 
selves so deeply in the constitution of the soul, and 
to derive so many advantages from outward circum- 
stances in life, that to expel them is equally impos- 
sible as for the Israelites to di-ive out those Canaan- 
ites who had chariots of iron. Under the divine 
conduct of Jesus Christ, our true Joshua, we shall 
set our feet upon the necks of these dreaded foes. 
Take unto you the whole armor of God, and remove 
every accursed thing from the midst of thee, 0-Israel, 
and the Lord thy God will drive out these nations 
before thee by little and little. Their defence is 
already departed from them since the law, the 
strength of sin, is perfectly fulfilled, and stripped of 
its condemning power. A time, a happy time will 
come, when no jebusite shall dwell in the land, 
when no latent corruption shall infest thy soul, and 
there shall be no pricking briar, nor any grieving 
thorn to the house of Israel : for it is the gracious 
promise of the Captain of our salvation, " He that 
overcometh, and keepeth my words unto the end, to 
him will I give power over the nations, and he shall 
rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a pot- 
ter shall they be broken to shivers." 



XVII. THE ALLEGORY OF HAGAR AND 
SARAH. 

As we are informed by the great apostle of the 
Gentiles, that the private history of Abraham's fam- 
ily, was a presage of the events that happened to 
his posterity, we shall glance at it a little. This 
faithful patriarch had received the promise of a seed, 



190 TYPICAL THINGS. 

in whom all the nations should be blessed. But the 
accomplishment was long delayed, his wife proved 
barren, old age was stealing on apace, and there 
seemed no human probability that Sarah should have 
a son. She ought, however, to have believed him 
faithful who promised, and fully able to perform 
what he had said. She should not have devised un- 
lawful means of helping the promise to bring fourth, 
but patiently expected God's time of visitation, which 
is always the best. But it was otherwise; for in the 
ardour of impatience she urges her husband to mar- 
ry her bondmaid, fondly imagining that this strata- 
gem might compensate her own barrenness, and 
forward the birth of the promised seed. Whatever 
humility and self denial this good woman may be 
be supposed to have acted, in making such a propo- 
sal, it cannot certainly be vindicated from the charge 
of being in itself, immoral, and contrary to the ori- 
ginal dictates of the law of nature ; for though poly- 
gamy was ordinarily practised in the primitive ages 
of the world, and even in the patriarchal families 
who professed the true religion, it is neither to be 
excused nor imitated. There is no ground to think 
that God approved, though he tolerated the custom 
of having more wives than one. From the beginning 
it was not so. And indeed the family broils, which 
the scripture frequently mentions, as occasioned by 
this practice, is a sufficient confirmation of its mani- 
fest inconvenience. Of this we have a little instance 
in the present case : for no sooner is this unlawful 
overture of Sarah complied with by her husband, by 
taking Hagar into his bed, than the insolent and 
disrespectful carriage of the bond-maid, when she 
saw that she had conceived, raised such variance in 
the family, that at last she is obliged to run away 
from the resentment of her injured mistress. But 
returning and humbling herself, a peace was again 
patched up for a time. She bears Ishmael, Abra^ 



ALLEGORY OF HAGAR AND SARAH. 191 

ham's first bom son. But this was not the child of 
the promise. There was nothing extraordinary about 
his birth, which was, to use the phrase of the apostle, 
after the flesh. The happy seed, that should become 
a blessing to the world, must be born in lawful wed- 
lock, not of a bond maid, but of a free woman. And 
Sarah, why did you doubt if the power of God was 
able to make the barren woman a joyful mother 1 
How absurd is it to hasten providence % Give it 
time, and it will do all things well. For when, in 
process of time, Abraham's body is dead as Sarah's 
womb, lo, Isaac is conceived and born, Isaac the 
promised seed, Isaac the long expected child is 
brought forth, to the great joy of his parents, a son 
of their old age. By this time Ishmael is become a 
a youth, and arrived at years of some discretion; but 
he walks rather in the steps of his mother than of his 
father, and is so daring as to mock at his younger 
brother, at his weaning feast. Though one would 
be willing to excuse this behavior, as proceeding 
only from puerile levity, the severity of the punish- 
ment inflicted for this fault, seems to evince, that 
there was a great mixture of impiety in this insult- 
ing carriage, and that the promise itself was the 
chief thing that he derided. It could not fail to be 
very irritating to Sarah, to observe how ill her kind- 
ness to Hagar was requited by the undutiful de- 
portment of her son ; and when she urged their 
present dismission from the family, Abraham was 
not over ready to comply with this request, because 
of the affection he bore to Ishmael ; and he hoped 
that the passion of his wife, though just, would soon 
subside. But the motion of Sarah, " Cast out the 
bond-woman and her son, for the son of the bond- 
woman shall not be heir with my son, even with 
Isaac," is backed with a mandate from God himself. 
And accordingly the father of the Jewish nation, 
which is very remarkable, discards from his family 



192 TYPICAL THINGS. 

his eldest son, who was equally circumsised with 
Isaac, never, as would seem, to return again. And 
this was done by the positive command of God him- 
self, wdth a special view to prefigure the future re- 
jection of a great part of Abraham's natural pos- 
terity, that were only descended from him accord- 
ing to the flesh. 

That this was the secret design of Providence in 
this memorable story, might been conjectured from 
the narrative of Moses. But we are not allowed so 
much as to doubt of it by that infallible expositor of 
the law, Paul the apostle of Jesus Christ, who, dis- 
coursing on this very subject to the revolted Galla- 
tian churches, expressly says, *' Which things are an 
allegory, for these (women) are the two covenants.'' 
According to this apostle, Hagar, with her son was 
secretly designed to represent the covenant that pre- 
scribes our own obedience as the representation of 
which covenant was exhibited at mount Sinai in 
Arabia, and it also answers to Jerusalem that now 
is, and is in bondage with her children, that is, to the 
present apostate church of the Jews, who expect to 
be justified by the works of the law, and all who 
imitate their example. Upon the other hand, Sarah 
the free woman, with Isaac her son, is an emblem 
of the covenant that directs to look for salvation 
only by the righteousness of a middle person, with- 
out the works of the law ; which covenant was pub- 
lished from mount Zion, and answers to Jerusalem 
above, or the true church, whether of Jews or Gen- 
tiles, that is free from the legal yoke, and is the 
mother of us all, if we believe. Let us pursue this 
beautiful allegory a little in the track which the 
apostle has marked out. 

And, first, it may be said, that as Sarah the free 
woman was before Hagar, so the promise w^as be- 
fore the law, and the covenant of grace antecedent 
unto the covenant of works. Not to speak of the 



ALLEGORY OF HAGAR AND SARAH. 193 

federal transaction betwixt the Father and the Son, 
which the scripture frequently mentions as commen- 
cing from all everlasting, the promise, or revelation 
of this eternal covenant, was exhibited to the church 
long before the Sinai dispensation. 

Again, as Sarah was the mistress, and Hagar the 
maid ; so the gospel is the mistress to which the law 
was subservient. If Hagar had kept her station, 
without departing from that subordination she owed 
to Sarah, she might then been of singular use in the 
patriarch's family, instead of raising the broils and 
animosities which were afterwards occasioned by 
her. For a servant bearing rule is one of Solomon's 
unseemly things ; and among other things which 
the earth cannot bear, and for which it is disquieted, 
he mentions an odious woman when she is married, 
and a handmaid that is heir to her mistress. So 
if the legal covenant be kept in its own room 
and place, she may greatly serve the covenant of 
grace ; she may be remarkably useful to convince of 
sin, and to endear a Saviour; for the law as the 
apostle affirms, is good if a Tnan use it lawfully. 
But if this bondmaid the law assume the sole dom- 
inion, and rival her mistress, to whom she should 
humble herself, that is, if she takes upon her to jus- 
tify and save, she then works wrath, and is fatally 
pernicious. And this the event proved. 

Hagar is taken (unseemly as it was) into the bed 
of Sarah. This seems to have prefigured, that the 
law should be taken into the room of the gospel ; for 
as Abraham, after he was mamed to the free-woman, 
turned aside to the bond-maid; so his posterity, 
after they received the promise, from whence alone 
they should have looked for justification, and ever- 
lasting life, turned aside to the law, which was 
added for other ends, and expected from the law, 
that which the promise can only confer. Whoever 
they be, whether of the Jewish or Christian denom- 



194 TYPICAL THINGS. 

ination, that depend upon their own righteousness, 
either as the sole or partial cause of their salvation, 
they are guilty of the same fault in the mystery, 
that Abraham was in the letter, when he permitted 
Hagar to ascend to the bed of her mistress. 

Though Sarah was long barren, Hagar is not. 
The biith of Ishmael is not near so difficult as the 
birth of Isaac. It is a far easier matter for the law 
to gender children into bondage, than for the prom- 
ise to bring forth children unto liberty. Jerusalem 
above, or the true gospel church, labors indeed to 
bring forth spiritual children : but, ah ! how few are 
the children of this free woman, to the vast shoals 
of legal professors who desire to be under the law] 
The most eminent preachers of the gospel have had 
ground of cornplaining, *' Lord, who hath believed 
our report !'' and that they labored in vain, and 
spent their sti*ength in vain, and for nought. But as 
the womb of Sarah was at last opened, after it had 
been long shut ; so of the gospel church, her anti- 
type, the prophet cries, " Sing, O barren, thou that 
didst not bear, break forth into singing, and cry 
aloud, thou that didst not travail with child ; for 
more are the children of the desolate, than the 
children of the married wife, saith the Lord." 

The insolent behavior of Ishmael, the son of the 
bond-maid, when he mocked the child of promise, 
who was nobler than himself, is an emblem of the 
persecuting spirit of self-justiciaries against the true 
believers in all ages : for he was bom after the flesh, 
persecuted him who was born after the Spirit, even 
so it is now. Witness the enmity of the Jews 
against the spreading of the gospel. Witness the 
Papist^s bloody rage. Witness, ye flames that re- 
duced to ashes the bodies of so many noble martyrs. 
Yes, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, 
must be content, in one shape or another, to suffer 
persecution. 



ALLEGORY OF HAGAR AND SARAH. 195 

Lastly, The sentence of exclusion from Abraham's 
family pronounced by the scripture against the bond- 
woman and her son, was a sure presage of the 
irrevocable doom of all the children of the law, 
though, like the circumcised, but mocking Ishmael, 
they are born in the church, and wear the professor's 
badge. "Abraham," says the scripture, " rose early 
in the morning, took bread, and a bottle of water, 
and gave it unto Hagar, and the child, and sent her 
away, and she departed, and wandered in the wil- 
derness of Beersheba/' Even so the carnal Jews, 
though Abraham's natural seed, are now cast out 
from the church, and wander through the world. 
And all who remain under the law, and are not, as 
Isaac was, the cTiildren of the promise, shall be in 
like manner cast out from the presence of God, and 
excluded from the heavenly inheritance. 



BOOK III. 
TYPICAL PLACES. 

I. THE LAW OF THE CITIES OF REFUGE. 

To inspire the minds of the Israehtes with the 
greatest horror at the dreadful sin of murder, it 
pleased God, their Judge and Law-giver, not only 
to appoint that the murderer should be put to death, 
but to permit the avenger of blood, or the near kins- 
man, to kill with impunity from men the unfortunate 
manslayer, who, without malice or design, was the 
insd'ument of taking away the life of his neighbor. 
But to counterbalance this permission, and to pro- 
tect an unhappy man from the effects of rash resent- 
ment, it pleased the same good God to appoint cities . 
of refuge in his commonwealth, to which the man- 
slayer might fly as his sanctuary from the avenger. 
These cities were six in number; three in the land 
of Canaan, and three on the other side of Jordan. 
They belonged to the tribe of Levi. The roads to 
them were prepared by authority. And that nothing 
might retard the flight of the hapless manslayer, to 
whom every moment was precious, they say, that 
the breadth of the road was thirty-two cubits : that 
where there happened to be water, it was laid 
over with a bridge ; and that, at the cross ways, the 
inscription of Refuge, Refuge, directed where to 
bend his course. In the city of refuge he was sup- 
plied with all necessary accommodations, and his 
life once more was protected by the laws of the 
realm. He was not, however, to venture without 



LAW OF THE CITIES OF REFUGE. 197 

the precinct of the hospitable town ; for if the 
avenger of blood should find and kill him, he would 
not be punished as a murderer for doing it. The 
death of the high priest was the first thing that re- 
leased him from his confinement, and left him at 
liberty to go wherever he pleased. Even so, by the 
death of the great High-Priest, the guilty sinner is 
rescued from bondage and confinement, into the 
glorious liberty of the sons of God. 

But what we intend chiefly to notice here, is the 
resemblance, betwixt the flight of the manslayer to 
th^ cities of refuge, and of the sinner to Jesus 
Christ as the hope set before him. And perhaps it 
will appear very probable, that the method of our 
salvation was typified by this Mosaic law ; at least 
that here is no contemptible allegory. 

Let the manslayer be an emblem of the guilty 
sinner, who, by violating the precept of the holy 
law, butchers his own soul, murders his neighbor, 
and, in some manner, assassinates God himself, 
whose veiy being is struck at by the commission of 
every sin. 

Let the avenger of blood denote the inexorable 
justice of an angry God, whose ^vrath it is alike im- 
possible to shun or to endure ; — the dreadful curse 
of the condemning law, whose quiver is filled with 
the arrows of every divine threatening; — the in- 
venomed sting of a resentful conscience, which in- 
fixed in the soul, can make it a terror to itself, and 
all around ; — or death, the grizly king of terrors, 
the universal destroyer of the nations, through fear 
of whom many are held in bondage all their life- 
time. Yea, what creature is not ready, at the 
slightest intimation of the divine will, to start up an 
avenger of its Creator's quarrel against the obnox- 
ious criminal 1 

Let the cities of refuge represent the glorious Im- 
manuel, and his blessed mediation. These cities 

10 



198 TYPICAL PLACES. 

pertained to tHe promised land, and were to be 
found no where else. So the salvation of Jesus 
Christ is exhibited in the Church : Upon mount Zion 
there shall he deliverance ; and God is known in Ker 
palaces for a refuge. They belonged to the priestly 
tribe. And the priestly office of the Redeemer is 
that branch of his character which affords the most 
immediate relief to the sin burdened soul. They 
were six in number, and scattered through the ter- 
ritories of Israel at convenient distances, that where- 
ever the misfortune should happen, the manslayer 
might not have far to go to one or other of the^. 
May not this put us in mind, that our Redeemer is 
a present help in trouble % To find whom, we need 
neither climb up into heaven, nor dive into the bot- 
tom of the sea ; for the word is nigh unto us. And 
in this word the great Jehovah brings near his 
righteousness and his salvation. The patency and 
plainness of the roads that lead to the cities of pro- 
tection, may occasion our reflecting on much the 
same thing. Guilty, condemned, trembling sinner, 
see h ow thy city of refuge expands her gates % 
How the stumbling blocks are removed ! How the 
way is prepared ! How this law is satisfied, justice 
atoned, and God reconciled ! How the way-faring 
man, though a fool, needs not err in the way of 
holiness ! Nothing, nothing ought to retard thy 
present flight unto the hope set before thee, or hin- 
der thy present trusting in Christ for everlasting 
salvation from sin, and its dreadful consequences. 

But who is he that thus flies for refuge to Jesus 
Christ from the inexorable justice of an angry God, 
and from the dreadful curse of a condemning law ] 
If the manslayer had not been conscious of the 
deed, and apprehensive of the kinsman's resentment 
on that account, he would not have judged it neces- 
sary to save himself by flight. And if he could have 
thought of a better expedient to insure his safety, 



LAW OF THE CITIES OF REFUGE. 199 

he would not have fled to a city where he must 
long remain a prisoner, and in exile. But necessity, 
hard necessity, drove him to it as his only sanctuary. 
Even so the refugee who flies to Jesus Christ from 
the avenging wrath of God, is a person in whose 
heart is wrought a conviction of his guilt, an appre- 
hension of his danger, and a despair of every refuge. 
Formerly he had a very favorable opinion of him- 
self, and his convictions of moral guilt were so 
general and moderate, as to sit easy upon his mind, 
without wounding his rest. He thought it no diffi- 
cult matter to elude the divine threatenings, and im- 
agined himself secure, because he was thoughtless 
of danger. The secrecy of sin, the example of the 
multitude, the hope of long life, the distance of the 
day of judgment, the presumption of God's mercy, 
his privileges and reputation as a member of the 
church ; these, and such like things, he fled unto as 
a sanctuary from his melancholy thoughts. Or per- 
haps he stilled the enemy and avenger of an ac- 
cusing conscience, with business, with recreation, 
and with sensual indulgences. But now a dreadful 
sound of vengeance is in his ears. He sees the 
heinous guilt of his iniquities — hears with Adam the 
voice of God — knows not where to hide his guilty 
head — looks on his right hand, and beholds, but 
there is no shelter ; all refuge fails him, and no man 
cares for his soul. The method of salvation by 
Christ unfolds unto his view. " This is the way, 
walk ye in it,'' says the voice from heaven ; and, 
" Turn to this strong hold, thou prisoner of hope." 
And as the man who flies for his life from a pursuing 
enemy will cast away from him any thing, however 
valuable, that would cumber and detain him ; so he 
parts at once both with his own righteousness ; and 
what things were gain to him, he counts them loss, 
that he may win Christ, and be found in him. He 
cries unto him, and says, " O Lord ! thou art my 



200 TYPICAL PLACES. 

refuge : attend unto my cry, for I am brought very 
low : deliver me from my persecutors, for they are 
stronger than I/' 

It was not only required of the manslayer, that 
he should fly to the city of refuge for once : but he 
w^as to remain there till the death of the high-priest. 
Nor is it sufficient to believe in Christ for once, 
without abiding in him as our sure defence. Our 
High-Priest never dies, therefore should we abide 
in our refuge for ever : for in returning and rest shall 
we he saved, in quietness and confidence shall he our 
strength. 

The protection afforded to all, both Jews and 
Gentiles, (for there was no difference,) who fled to 
these cities of refuge, is no despicable representation 
of the ability in Jesus Christ to save to the utter- 
most all that come unto God by him. Soon as the 
wretched manslayer reached the wished town, 
where he was legally secure of life, and where 
(they say) no weapon were allowed to be made or 
sold, he could talk with the avenger, without turning 
pale ; though before his throbbing heart beat high 
with the impulse of fear, while he thought that 
every man he met would slay him. Even so the 
miserable sinner, who has obtained a discovery of 
his guilt, and been harrassed perhaps for some con- 
siderable time with a fearful looking for of judg- 
ment, his soul draws nigh unto the grave, and his 
life to the destroyers : the moment he finds his rest 
in Christ, by believing in him for life and salvation, 
he can sit and answer all his accusers, and talk with 
every enemy and avenger, '' O enemy, destructions 
are come to a perpetual end." " Who shall lay any 
thing to the charge of God's elect ] It is God that 
justifieth : it is Christ that died." Produce your 
charge, O law ; and death, where is thy sting % 

We shall, lastly, observe the superior excellency 
of our New Testament refuge to these ancient 



LAW OF THE CITIES OF REFUGE. 201 

cities of protection. In all these things he has the 
pre-eminence. None were to be finally privileged 
in these cities but the manslayer ; who was not in- 
deed guilty of any crime, but rather ill-fated and 
unhappy. If the wilful murderer had fled to any 
of them, or even to God's Altar, he was to be 
dragged from thence to suffer condign punishment. 
But none were ever dragged from Jesus Christ, who 
fled unto him by faith, to return again into condem- 
nation, however atrocious their crimes, however 
flagrant their guilt. Here murderers, adulterers, 
blasphemers, persecutors, and the most execrable 
miscreants that ever the sun beheld have been for ever 
delivered from their Judge. These ancient towns 
defended only the natural life from the avenger's 
sword, which was to be, however, soon paid as a 
debt to nature. But if Jesus Christ is our refuge, 
he will rescue us from everlasting vengeance ; he 
will give unto us eternal life, and we shall never 
perish. The refugees in the old cities of refuge 
were indeed secured in their lives by the laws of 
the land. But the promise of God that cannot lie, 
and the oath of God which cannot be recalled, are 
two immutable things, by which th^ir eternal happi- 
ness is secured, who have fled for refuge to lay hold 
on the hope set before them. Happy believer, thy 
consolation is strong indeed, stronger than the af- 
fliction of life, stronger than the fear of death, and 
stronger than the teiTor of judgment. Why shouldst 
thou not dismiss thy fears, when thy never ending 
safety from the most dreadful dangers is so amply 
secured, that God himself, for whom it is impossi- 
ble to lie, would (O blasphemous thought!) be per- 
jured, should thou ever come into condemnation. 
" The eternal God is thy refuge, a very present help 
in trouble, though the earth be removed, and though 
the mountains be earned into the midst of the sea, 
though the waters thereof roar and be troubled." 



202 



II. THE TABERNACLE IN THE WILDER^ 

NESS. 

The tabernacle which Moses made in the wilder- 
ness, by the special appointment of the Grod of Isra- 
el, was the first religious structure in which the 
eternal Majesty vouchsafed to dwell on the earth. It 
was a sort of a portable temple, and not unfitly es- 
teemed the centre of the ceremonial worship. The 
materials of it were collected by the voluntary con- 
tribution of the children of Israel, who, upon this oc- 
casion, offered so liberally, that Moses found it ne- 
cessary to stop them by a new proclamation. The 
pattern of it was minutely described to Moses in the 
mount by God himself, who ordered him to be very 
exact in executing the heavenly plan. Two famous 
artists, whose names were Bezaleel, and Aholiab, 
were inspired by the Spirit of God with most exqui- 
site and masterly skill, to finish the holy fabric, and 
its utensils according to the divine plan. If you are 
curious to know the construction of this sacred tent, 
you may take this short description of it. 

First of all, there was a spacious court, a hundred 
cubits long, and fifty broad. It was hung round with 
cuitains of fine twined linen, that were fastened with 
silver hooks to pillars with sockets of brass filleted 
with silver. The gate by which you entered to this 
wide area, was a hanging of twenty cubits of blue, 
purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought 
with needle-work, and suspended by four pillars. 
This outward court the whole nation might enter on 
their solemn festivals, as it is said, *^ Enter into his 
gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with 
praise.'* Here, under the open sky, stood the altar 
of burnt-offering, and the brazen laver. 

Within the circumference of this wide and open 
court, was the tabernacle itself, into which none but 



TABERNACLE IN THE WILDERNESS. 203 

the tribe of Levi were allowed to enter, to accom- 
plish the service of God. It was a close tent, twenty- 
cubits long, ten cubits broad, and its height equal to 
its breadth. It was constructed of boards of Shittim- 
wood of regular dimensions, running into one an- 
other. These boards were supported beneath with 
sockets of silver, and corroborated behind with bars 
of the same wood overlaid with gold, and fastened 
by golden rings through which they passed. Do 
you ask, what was the roof of this magnificent tent ] 
First, it was covered with ten curtains of equal mea- 
sure, of fine twdned linen, and blue, and pui-ple, and 
scarlet, embroidered with cherubims, and coupled 
with loops of blue, and taches of gold. Then it was 
covered with eleven curtains of goats' hair, hung to- 
gether by taches of brass. Next it was covered with 
rams' skins dyed red. And above all, there was a 
covering of badgers' skins, to protect the tabernacle 
and its coverings from the injuries of the weather. 

But though these boards and curtains, thus joined 
together made but one tabernacle, this one taberna- 
cle was divided into two apartments. The first was 
c;alled the holy place, into which you entered through 
a vail or hanging of blue, purple, and scarlet, and 
fine twined linen, curiously embroidered, supported 
with five pillars of Shittim-wood, overlaid with gold, 
and their bases of brass, and fastened with golden 
hooks. Here stood the golden table, the golden can- 
dlestick, and the golden altar. " The second was cal- 
led the most holy place, into which the high-priest, 
and none but he, did enter once in the year through 
a second vail, of the same materials with the first, 
embroidered with cherubims, and fastened by golden 
taches to four pillars of Shittim-wood, overlaid with 
gold, and their bases of silver. In this secret cham- 
ber of the Deity were deposited the most sacred sym- 
bols of the divine presence. Here was the ark of 
the covenant, covered by the mercy-seat, and over it 



204 TYPICAL PLACES. 

the cherubims of glory, between which Jehovah 
himself was said to dwell. Here was the golden pot 
that had manna, and the miraculous rod of Aaron 
that budded. And here the appearance of the glory 
of the Lord is supposed to have resided, and been 
seen on special occasions. 

Such was the structure of this holy tent, which 
was built in the taste of heaven, reared up by the 
inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and consecrated by 
Moses. And we must not forget this one thing, that 
it was a moveable pavilion, and therefore so con- 
trived as to be easily taken down, and set up again. 
While the peculiar people sojourned in the wilder- 
ness, the tabernacle shared the same fate, being trans- 
ported from place to place, by the ministry of the 
Levites. When they possessed the promised land, 
at first it rested in Gilgal, afterwards in Shiloah, in 
the days of Saul it seems to have been in Nob, and 
when Soloman began to reign over Israel it was 
pitched at Gibeon. But at last it was altogether 
superseded by the magnificent temple built by that 
glorious monarch ; and probably the costly materials 
of it were lodged among the sacred treasures of the 
house of the Lord. 

What shall we then say to these things ? Did the 
high and lofty One, whose dwelling is not with flesh, 
who resides not in temples made with hands, did he 
stand in the least need of this moveable habitation ? 
Glorious as it was, can we reasonably think it to have 
been a meet apartment for the Deity, or at all ade- 
quate to the inconceivably glorious, immense, and 
eternal Spirit 1 What a contemptible idea of the 
true God would such a supposition inspire into the 
mind ] Away with such a grovelling thought, so 
unworthy of God, and shocking to reason herself! 
But if we suppose that these holy places made with 
hands were figures of heaven, of Christ, and of the 
church, and exhibited as such to the believing Isra- 



TABERNACLE IN THE WILDERNESS. 205 

elites, then doubtless we will be reconciled to that 
very particular regard the high Grod was pleased to 
show to the worldly sanctuary. Then we shall be 
able to account for that ardent affection the ancient 
believers confessed on all occasions to the taberna- 
cles of the Lord of hosts. Then it will not appear 
absurd, that the same God who spent but six days 
in creating the universal frame of nature, should 
spend no less than forty in prescribing the little frame 
of the tabernacle. And that these holy places made 
with hands, were figures of heaven, of Christ, and 
of the church we are now to declare. 

First, then, the tabernacle of Moses was a figure 
of heaven itself, that glorious high throne from the 
beginning. For this interpretation we have the ex- 
press words of an inspired penman of the New Tes- 
tament, who, speaking of our great High Priest, 
plainly declares, that " he is not entered into the holy 
places made with hands, which are the figures of the 
true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the 
presence of God for us." Perhaps we should not 
err, though we should think, that as the Jewish high- 
priest went through the outward court, and passed 
through the holy place into the holiest of all ; so Je- 
sus Christ when he ascended on high, passed through 
the first heaven of clouds, and the second heaven of 
stars, into the third heaven of angels. But though 
the most holy place was by itself alone, the most em- 
inent figure of the heavenly sanctuary, this hinders 
not to regard the whole fabric as an emblem of the 
same blissful mansion. Was the tabernacle of Moses 
divided into several parts ? We know him that said, 
*' In my Father's house are many mansions." Was 
it a place of great splendor and magnificence even 
to the eye ? '' Glorious things are spoken of thee, 
O city of the living God." Was it the dwelling of 
Jehovah, where the visible tokens of his presence 
were seen ] In the heavenly mansions he unveils 

10* 



206 TYPICAL PLACES. 

the brightness of his glory to all the saints around 
him. Did piiests always officiate there 1 The saints 
in light are both kings and priests unto God. Were 
the curtains embroidered with cherubims ? In the 
celestial abodes are the innumerable company of an- 
gels. Was it replenished with all necessary furni- 
ture and provision 1 In heaven is the true light, and 
the living bread, fulness of joy, and pleasures for 
evermore. Did the voice of praise continually re- 
sound in the earthly tabernacle ] The eternal regions 
are forever filled with loud hosannas. Was holiness 
and legal purity required in all who trod the vener- 
able courts of God's ancient dwelling-place 1 Noth- 
ing that is defiled can enter the heavenly Jerusalem. 
And, lastly, as the tabernacle was sprinkled with 
blood by the Jewish high-priest, when he penetrated 
its innermost recesses once in the year, with the 
names of all the tribes engraven on his heart. Even 
so the blood of Jesus Christ has consecrated that 
high and holy place, that sinners of the human kind 
might not be for ever excluded from dwelling in the 
beatific presence of Jehovah. When the everlast- 
ing gates of heaven were by sin barred for ever 
against us, the blood of Christ was the key that open- 
ed them again ; and the believers in his atoning 
blood may enter into heaven itself with greater bold- 
ness than the high-priest when he went into the ho- 
liest of all, than the Levites when they officiated in 
the holy place, or than the people when they ap- 
proached the outward court. 

A second thing which the tabernacle of Moses did 
most undoubtedly represent, was the Person and 
future incarnation of the Messias himself, who was 
made flesh in the appointed time, and tabernacled 
among us, and who spake of his own body when he 
said to the Jews, " Destroy this temple, and I will 
raise it up in three days.'' Was the tabernacle a 
work of heavenly architecture ? The human nature 



TABERNACLE IN THE WILDERNESS. 207 

of our Lord was prepared by our heavenly Father, 
and curiously wrought, by the operation of the Holy 
Ghost, in the lower parts of the world.- Was it the 
habitation of the Deity] In him dwells all the ful- 
ness of the Godhead bodily. Was it anointed with 
holy oil 1 The most holy humanity of our Lord was 
anointed with the Spirit, which God gave not by 
measure unto him. Was it embellished with a vari- 
ety of ornaments 1 He was adorned with every di- 
vine grace. Was it taken down by the Levites, and 
removed from place to place, till at last it was con- 
veyed to Jerusalem, where it remained in the tem- 
ple ! The human nature of our Lord was dissolved 
by death, reared up again by his resurrection, and, 
lastly translated into the heavely temple, which must 
contain him to the time of the restitution of all things. 
Was the tabernacle the place where God met with 
Israel ] Here he communed w^ith them ; here they 
presented their gifts, and slew their sacrifices, and 
even prayed with their faces towards it, though at 
the remotest distance. It is easy to see here a lively 
figure of the one Mediator between God and man. 
In Christ alone we have a clear revelation of the di- 
vine will ; and by him must we present our spiritual 
sacrifices, and do in his name whatsoever we do, 
whether in word or deed. We shall only add, that 
as there were two apartments, the holy place, which 
made, however, but one tabernacle; so in Christ' 
there is a human nature, signified by the holy place, 
and divine nature, represented by the holiest of all ; 
yet these two natures are mysteriously united in 
one pei'^on. 

The third and last thing prefigured by the taber- 
nacle is the church, that holy society and mystical 
body of Jesus Christ, which, in scripture style, is the 
house and temple of the living God, in which he 
dwells and walks. We shall .enumerate some of the 
most glaring parallels between them. The taberna- 



208 TYPICAL PLACES. 

cle was planned by the wisdom of God himself, who 
condescended to adjust the minutest particulars, as 
the loops, the taches, and the pins, and peremptorily 
required that all things should be done according to 
the original pattern. And who knows not, that all 
things in the gospel church are planned by the same 
unerring wisdom, and how much the sovereign Ar- 
chitect has testified his displeasure in every age 
against the inventions of men in things pertaining to 
God ] "All that I command you, that shall ye do ; 
ye shall not add, ye shall not diminish." This is all 
the law, this is the prophets, and this is the doctiine 
of Christ and his apostles. The tabernacle was ex- 
ecuted by the inspiration of .the holy Ghost, who 
rested on Bezaleel and Aholiab, to fit them for this 
service, without whom they were no more capable 
of it than other men. It was the same spirit that 
descended on the blessed apostles, the wise master 
builders of the gospel-church, without which they 
could not been qualified for their honorable work. 
Yea, it is the Holy Ghost, who, by his common gifts, 
makes ordinaiy spirits workmen that need not be 
ashamed. The tabernacle was composed of very 
different materials, as gold, silver, wood, brass, scar- 
let, blue and purple cloth, fine linen, ram's skins, 
badger's skins, and goat's hair : yet all these differ- 
ent materials, combined by the workmen's skill, 
conduced each in their kind to the beauty 'and per- 
fection of the sti'ucture ; and the gold could not say 
to the brass, nor the scarlet to the goat's hair, I have 
no need of you. So in the spiritual house, the mate- 
rials of which it is composed, that is the believers in 
Christ Jesus, are men of divers nations, different 
stations in life, unlike natural tempers, unequal gifts 
and graces, and various ministries; yet being fitly 
framed together by the operation of the Holy Ghost, 
they grow into an holy temple in the Lord. The 
symmetry of the ancient tabernacle, the nice con- 



TABERNACLE IN THE WILDERNESS. 209 

junction of the boards by mortices and bars, and of 
the curtains by loops and t aches, was not so delight- 
ful to the eye of the body, as it is pleasant to the eye 
of the mind, to see brethren dwellinof tog^ether, in , 
unity, perfectly joined together in the same mind, 
and in the same judgment, and carefully endeavor- 
ing to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of 
peace. The tabernacle was covered with many 
coverings, with fine twined linen, with blue, purple, 
and scarlet, with rams' skins died red, with goat's 
hair, and badger's skins. By this means it was 
rendered extremely close, and finely protected from 
the injuries of the weather. May not this recal to 
our mind the ample protection and security of the 
gospel-church from the heat of God's anger, and 
from all worldly tribulations, under the rich, the 
strong, and the broad purple covering of Immanuel's 
righteousness ] For " the Lord is their keeper : the 
Lord is their shade on their right hand : the sun 
shall not smite them by day, nor the moon by night : 
the Lord will preserve them from all evil, the Lord 
will preserve their soul." The tabernacle was orna- 
mented with gold and silver, and cuiious embroider- 
ies ; and though without it was not inelegant, it was, 
however, most magnificent within. Even so, the 
beauty of the gospel-sanctuary does not so much 
strike the eye of sense that looks at the outward ap- 
pearance, as it is obvious to the spiritual sight, that 
looks at unseen things. Would you discern the true 
glory of the spouse of Jesus Christ, look not at her 
face, because the sun hath looked upon her : but the 
King's daughter is all glorious within. The taber- 
nacle was anointed with oil when Moses consecra- 
ted it; and the church have an unction from the 
holy One. The tabernacle was divided into seve- 
ral partitions. The outward court might dfenote 
the church ; the holy place is an emblem of the 
church invisible ; and the holiest of all represents 



210 TYPICAL PLACES. 

the church triumphant in glory, to whi^h none are 
admitted but the royal priesthood. By baptism we 
enter into the first, by regeneration into the second, 
and by death into the third. O death it is thine to 
pull aside the vail of mortality that interposes be- 
tween the holy and the most holy place. Happy 
they who enter by faith, and not by a visible pro- 
fession only, into his sanctuary which he has sanc- 
tified for evermore. For as there was no possibility 
of coming to the holiest of all, but by passing through 
the holy place ; even so it is impossible, if we are 
not now partakers of his holiness, to be hereafter 
sharers of his glory. 



III. THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 

Tpie second and last material habitation of Jeho- 
vah was the temple of Solomon, which that magnifi- 
cent monarch reared upon the hill Moriah in Jeru- 
salem, the metropolis of his kingdom, to the honor 
of the God of Israel. The plan of it was dictated 
by the Spirit unto his father David, who was pro- 
hibited from executing it himself, because of the 
bloody wars he had waged in the course of his life. 
The workmen were partly Israelites, and partly 
Gentiles of Tyre. The materials were the best trees, 
the most precious metals, and large hewn stones, 
prepared and fitted for one another before they were 
laid upon the foundation, that the noise of axes and 
hammers might not be heard as the building rose. — 
1 Kings, vi. 7. The structure itself was sixty cubits 
long, twenty broad, and thirty cubits high, and like 
the tabernacle, consisted of two apartments, the holy, 
and the most holy place or oracle. You entered 
this temple on the east by a stately porch, which was 
higher than the edifice itself by ninety cubits, and 



THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 211 

may be considered as the steeple of that sacred pal- 
ace. The length of this porch was equal to the 
breadth of the principal house, and the breadth was 
the half that length. Here stood the two famous 
brazen pillars, whose names were Jachin and Boaz, 
that is, stability and strength ; though they were 
placed there not for the support but for the orna- 
ment of the house. Two open courts suiTounded 
the whole fabric, and side chambers were built round 
about against the wall, a row of narrow windows that 
sloped within, illuminated the dome. The strength 
and beauty of God's sanctuary were the main things 
that distinguished this finished piece of architecture ; 
for the dimensions were far from being wide, but it 
was supported by a strong foundation of large and 
costly stones, and ornamented within in the most 
splendid manner, with planks of cedar, plates of 
gold, glittering diamonds, and figures of palm trees 
and cherubims. This was that holy and beautiful 
house which the Chaldeans were permitted to de- 
molish for the first time, and the Romans for the 
second time, a thousand years after the first founda- 
tion was laid. Seventeen hundred years have now 
elapsed since the final desolation of this solemn 
temple, which never more shall rise beneath the 
builder's hand : for it is the will of God, that in 
every place, and not in Jerusalem alone, he should 
be worshipped in spirit and in truth. 

As the temple of Solomon was built for the same 
end with the tabernacle of Moses, without all doubt 
the typical meaning of the one and the other was al- 
so the same. Was the tabernacle a figure of heaven, 
of Christ, and of the Church ] So also was the tem- 
ple. It was a figure of heaven, the glorious habita- 
tion of God and anofels, where the rio^hteous flourish 
like the palm trees that were carved on the walls, 
— serve him continually like the priests that entered 
into the sanctuary, — and go no more out, being es- 



212 TYPICAL PLACES. 

tablished for ever like the pillars that graced the 
porch of that holy place. And as the stones which 
Solomon used were all hewn and prepared before 
they were there ; so all the stones of the celestial 
house, or the members of the triumphant Church, 
are afore prepared unto glory. Now is the time 
when their natural roughness and asperity is taken 
away by the skilful operation of the divine Spirit, 
and the various afflictions of this life, which exercise 
them in this vale of tears, that they may rest for ever 
and ever in the calm regions of everlasting peace, 
where no jarring sound is heard, any more than there 
was of axes and hammers in the building of the tem- 
ple. It was also a figure of the humanity of the 
Messiah, who spake of the temple of his body, when 
he said, *^ Destroy this temple, and in three days I 
will raise it up." But, without resuming what has 
already been hinted on this head, let us only further 
observe that the temple was, equally as the tabern- 
acle, a figure of that holy society, the Church, which 
is his body, whether we consider the plan, the mate- 
rials, the workmen, or the building itself. 

The plan of the temple was designed by God no 
less than that of the tabernacle. Nor could any 
wisdom inferior to the divine, have adjusted the 
model of the spiiitual house, which the aagels them- 
selves admire. The materials were prepared, and 
the stones fitted to one another, before they were 
compacted together, that noisy tools were wholly un- 
necessary as the building arose. An expressive em- 
blem this of that peaceful harmony which ought to 
reigQ among the builders of the Church as they carry 
on this holy work, and which could be easily attain- 
ed, if none but polished lively stones, or persons du- 
ly qualified, were admitted to become a part of the 
fabric. The workmen were Gentiles of Tyre, as 
w^ell as Israelites. Was not this a prelude of the 
future vocation of the Gentiles, that even the sons of 



THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 213 

the strangers, and those that were afar off, should 
bear a part in building the walls of the Gospel 
Church. 

Chiefly let us consider the building itself. It was 
supported by a strong foundation. What should this 
be in the antitype but Jesus Christ the foundation 
which God hath laid in Zion, on which all the apos- 
tles and prophets have built themselves and others 
from the beginning of the world, and to which alone 
the Church is indebted to that unshaken stability 
which laughs at all opposition ] It was illuminated 
with many windows. For the Church is a lightsome 
house, in which the true light shines. It was sur- 
rounded with side chambers. Emblems, perhaps, 
of the different visible churches which belong to the 
same universal body. It was adonied with gold and 
cedar, and its very floor was crusted with the most 
precious metal. This may remind us of the invisible 
glory of the Church, where the meanest office is hon- 
orable, and the meanest member excellent. It was 
gi'aved with cherubims and palm trees. This may 
denote the ministiy of angels in the Church, and the 
eternal verdure of all that are planted in the house 
of the Lord, It was fronted with pillars. Though 
ill, alas ! did they answer their name. Where was 
their stability, where was their strength, when the 
Chaldeans earned them away ? But though the pil- 
lars of heaven tremble, the pillars of the Church shall 
stand, and thus the gracious promise runs to every 
the meanest believer ; ** Him that overcometh, I will 
make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he 
shall go no more out." It was inhabited by the 
Deity, and a house of prayer for all people. So in 
the Church are the visible tokens of the divine pres- 
ence, and holiness becomes it for ever. It was re- 
plenished with costly furniture. And in Christ Jesus 
the Gospel Church really possesses all the holy uten- 
sils of the ancient temple. But this must be more 
largely declared. 



214 



First. THE ORDINANCE OF THE ARK 
AND MERCY SEAT. 

Where should we begin in enumerating the holy 
utensils and furniture of the tabernacle and temple, 
but with the sacred chest, commonly called tlie ark, 
sometimes " the ark of his strength, the ark of the 
covenant, the ark of the testimony, and the ark 
whose name is called by the name of the God of 
Israel ! '' Well may we esteem it the heart of the 
worldly sanctuary. It was the first holy implement 
the inspired artist Bezaleel formed, and resided in 
the most venerable apartment of the holy places 
made with hands. Its dimensions were small, but 
its materials were rich and magnificent. It was 
made of the best cedar or Shittim wood, and over- 
laid with pure gold both within and without. It was 
edged round with a border or coronet, and covered 
above with a lid of the same precious metal, called 
the mercy-seat. For the convenience of carriage 
from place to place, in the ambulatory state of their 
commonwealth, there were fastened to its four cor- 
ners so many golden rings, into which they put 
staves of shittim wood, overlaid with gold, that were 
never taken out, but suffered to remain even after 
the ark rested in the temple, and ceased to be a 
burden on the shoulders of the Levites. Within the 
splendid chest were deposited the two tables of stone 
that were hewed by Moses, after the first were 
broken and inscribed with the finger of God. Before 
it (as is most probable) were laid up the miraculous 
bread, that was preserved in the pot, and the mirac- 
ulous rod of Aaron, that blossomed and brought 
forth finiit. The first was a standing memorial of 
the choice regard of heaven to the whole nation of 
Israel ; and the last was a perpetual sign of his 
favor to the priestly tribe of Levi, and family of 



THE ARK AND MERCY SEAT. 215 

Aaron. Above it two cherubims of beaten gold, 
arising out of the two ends of the mercy-seat, and 
looking towards it and one another, stretched out 
their wings. Besides these small cherubims, there 
were two others of gigantic stature, which Solomon 
reared up in the most holy place of the temple. 
But their precise shape is perhaps impossible for us, 
at the distance of time, certainly to be defined. 
This was that venerable utensil which it was death 
to touch or look into, unless by the persons ap- 
pointed for that purpose. The sudden fate of 
Uzziah, and the severe correction of the men of 
Bethshemish, are dreadful instances of its vengeance. 
When Israel marched through the wilderness, the 
ark is said to have gone before, and explored a 
place of rest for the congregation. The parted 
wave of Jordan, and the falling walls of Jericho, 
confessed its power. Once it was a prisoner in a 
heathen temple ; but, Palestine, short was your vic- 
tory, small was your cause of triumph. Soon were 
the proud enemies obliged to refund their spoil, and 
Dagon could neither defend himself nor his worship- 
pers from perpetual infamy. Once it blessed the 
house of Obed-edom. But at last, after many re- 
movals, the splendid temple of Solomon received it 
for several ages ; where, as is most likely, it perished 
in the common ruin of that holy and beautiful 
house. But the subject of our present inquiiy is 
the mystic signification of that sacred instrument, 
for the reception of which both the tabernacle was 
reared up and the temple built. 

And, first, It was a visible representation of the 
throne of Jehovah, the King of Israel, whose royal 
palace was the temple. The law in the midst of the 
ark, on which he sat, signified the equity of his go- 
vernment, or that justice and judgment are the hab- 
itation of his throne. The cherubims at both ends 
of the mercy-seat were doubtless emblematical fig- 



216 TYPICAL PLACES. 

ures of the blessed elect angels that suiround his 
throne, and fly swiftly to execute his high commands. 
The gold of which they were framed, may signify 
the puiity of their essence. The number two, may 
perhaps denote the perfect harmony and mutual 
love of the innumerable company of angels. The 
position of their faces towards each other, may in- 
timate the same thing. The adoring attitude of 
their bodies, may represent the profound veneration 
they have for their eternal sovereign. And their 
flying posture, (for their wings were expanded, and 
touched one another,) did surely indicate the expe- 
ditious alacrity with which they fulfil the heavenly 
commissions. 

It was also a repositoiy for the tables of the law, 
which were the instrument of that solemn covenant 
made betwixt God and that peculiar people, (an em- 
blem of the covenant of Adam : and hence it was a 
perpetual pledge of the divine favor and protection 
to their nation, if they fulfilled their obligations to 
the King of heaven ; and a witness against them, if 
they should prove unfaithful. The gold and cedar 
was a fit emblem of the invaluable worth, the spot- 
less purity, and the perpetual duration of the in- 
closed law. In imitation of this ordinance of the 
God of Jacob, the sacred chests of the Heathen 
seems to have been invented, to contain the holy 
books or mysteries of their superstition. 

But especially it may be considered as a figure of 
Jesus Christ, the promised Messias, whom all the 
holy things seem to have pointed out with one con- 
sent. There will appear to be no contemptible like- 
ness betwixt him and this most holy vessel, if we 
attend unto the following things ; the materials of 
which it was framed ; the depositum which it con- 
tained; its ornaments; its uses; its virtues ; and 
lastly, its removals from one place to another, till it 
rested in the temple. 



THE ARK AND MERCY SEAT. 217 

The materials of the ark were cedar and gold. 
What hinders us from this to think, upon the consti- 
tution of this wonderful Person, whose humanity is 
like the cedar, the fruit of the earth, but not subject 
to corruption, and his divinity, like the gold in the 
ark, embosoms his human nature, ennobles, but is 
not blended with it ] — The depositum it contained, 
were the second tables of the law ; for the first 
tables were broken before. In Jesus Christ we may 
see that law which we had broke preserved inviolate 
and perfectly fulfilled in the immaculate obedience 
of his holy life, who says of himself, " I delight to 
do thy will, O God, thy law is within my heart." — 
Its ornaments were the border of gold resembling 
a crown ; which reminds us of the Messiah's regal 
dignity : and the cherubims of glory, which signified, 
say some, the two natures of that glorious Person 
who was signified by the whole workmanship ; say 
others, the two-fold church of the Jews and Gentiles: 
but rather they were emblems of the angels, these 
bright and glorious creatures, who are supported in 
their happy state by Jesus Christ, as the cherubims 
were by the ark ; who desire to look into the mys- 
teiy of man's redemption, and pry into it with the 
most unwearied attention, the most sublime satis- 
faction, the highest wonder, and the profoundest 
adoration ; and who are all ministering spirits as- 
cending and descending upon the Son of man. The 
uses of the ark were various and important. Here 
God was enthroned. So God is in Christ recon- 
ciling the word unto himself. Here the law was 
covered from all eyes. So Jesus Christ, our true 
propitiatory, interposes himself betwixt us and that 
condemning law, which never fails to curse and kill 
all who presume to meddle with it but as fulfilled in 
him ; for when the commandment comes without 
him who fulfilled it, sin will revive, and, like the 
men of Bethshemesh, we will die. Here oracles 



218 TYPICAL PLACES. 

were given, and here, said God to Moses, "will lil 
meet with 'thee, and commune with thee from b€>^ 
tween the cherubims, before the mercy-seat, upon 
the ark of the testimony." So Christ is the meeting 
place of God with man, in whom he designs to re- 
veal his gracious will and pleasure to the fallen 
creature : hence is he called the Word of God, and 
is said to declare that God the Father who never 
was, and never can be seen by any man. And, 
lastly, here prayers were presented, and offerings 
were accepted : for the most holy Israelite durst not 
approach the presence of Jehovah but as he sat 
upon the mercy-seat sprinkled with blood. Nor 
could the holiest Christian presume to hope for the 
acceptance of his best duties, were it no' for the 
mercy of God through Christ Jesus. The virtues 
of the ark such as these. It searched out a resting 
place for Israel in the wilderness. So Christ is to 
his people the breaker of their way, who goes be- 
fore them, gives them rest, and prepares for them a 
place. It opened a passage for the ransomed tribes 
through the river Jordan. O Jesus, by thee we 
safely pass through the river Jordan of death, and 
have abundant entrance ministered into the heaven- 
ly kingdom, because these waters shall not over- 
flow them who have his presence with them, accorr 
ding to his promise. It overturned the walls of 
Jericho when carried round them seven days. So 
shall the walls of Babylon fall, and every high thing 
that exalts itself against God, be cast down by the 
preaching of his gospel, who is the power of God, 
and wisdom of God. It overthrew Dagon of the 
Philistines in his own temple, maimed his brute im- 
age, and utterly abolished that monstrous idol. So 
shall he that sits in the temple of God, and shows 
himself that he is God, be destroyed by the Spirit 
of his mouth and brightness of his coming. It 
sanctified the places to which it came, in the opinion 



THE ARK AND MERCY SEAT. 219 

of Solomon himself, and blessed the house of Obed- 
edom, where it transiently resided. It is the pre- 
sence of Christ that makes us holy and happy, and 
in him we are blessed with every spiritual blessing. 
The removals of the Ark from place to place in the 
wilderness, and in Canaan, till it rested in the tem- 
ple shall we say bear some faint resemblance to the 
humbled Redeemer, going about doing good while 
he Was upon the earth, until the everlasting doors of 
heaven were open to receive him 1 Or was the 
bearing of the ark about upon the shoulders of the 
Levites, a figure of the ministers of Christ bearing 
his name among the Gentiles, in all the corners of the 
world? The staves remained always in the ark. 
Perhaps to intimate, that no place or nation is ab- 
solutely secure against his departure from them, 
who have no suitable esteem for his gi'acious pre- 
sence with them in the dispensation of the eternal 
world. 

It is long since the Babylonians destroyed this 
glory of Israel ; but we have an ark whereunto they 
have no right to approach who sei-ve the tabernacle. 
John saw it in the heavenly temple. The Old 
Testament ark, like the covenant it confirmed, is 
vanished away. But the New Testament ark, in 
whom the new covenant stands fast, shall abide for 
ever in the presence of Jehovah. Nor is it death 
for any to look into this ark ; for the word of life 
was looked upon with the eyes, and handled with 
the hands of men. Let it be our one and chief 
desire, that all the days of our life we may abide in 
his house, behold his beauty, and inquire in his 
temple. 



220 



Secondly. THE ORDINANCE OF THE 
GOLDEN TABLE. 

The table of the show bread was a principal part 
of the apparatus of the middle couit or sanctuary, 
and a piece of very nice and costly workmanship. 
Like the ark, it was made of gold and cedar, orna- 
mented with a golden border and crown, furnished 
with golden rings for carriage, and with golden 
dishes, and other necessary utensils. On this pure 
table were laid twelve loaves, according to the num- 
ber of the tribes. They were made of fine flour, 
and piled up in two rows, crowned with frank- 
incense. Thus they stood continually before the 
Lord, but were renewed every Sabbath morning; 
and the stale bread was to be eaten by none but the 
priests in the holy place. 

As to the meaning of this service, perhaps it was 
a continual thank offering, whereby the Israelites 
testified their gratitude for the fine wheat of Canaan. 
But it seems likewise no contemptible figure of 
Christ Jesus, both personal and mystical ; which is 
now to be declared. 

And, first, it seems to represent Christ Jesus him- 
self. It was a golden table, to denote his most in- 
valuable worth, who is precious to them that believe. 
It was a crowned table, to signify his royal dignity, 
and the royal dainties wherewith he feeds his people, 
who eat the bread of the mighty. It was a moveable 
table : for the dispensation of his gospel is not con- 
fined to any particular spot of eaith, but has been 
frequently removed from one place to another. It 
was a furnished table, furnished both with provisions 
and vessels. In Christ we have all things pertaining 
to life and godliness ; for " it hath pleased the 
Father, that in him all fulness should dwell." 

But let us consider the provision wherewith this 



OF THE GOLDEN TABLE. 221 

table was loaded, and we shall see how fitly it quad- 
rates to Jesus Christ It was covered with loaves 

of bread. What bread is to the body, that Christ is 
to the soul, that is — the staff of life. Like bread, he 
is of the most universal use, of the most absolute 
necessity, and prepared for our spiritual food by 
various sufferings, as bread-corn is bruised. The 
loaves were fine flour. Jesus Christ is the finest of 
the wheat, in whom there was found no bran of 
sinful coiTuption, being holy, harmless, undefiled, 

and separated from sinners. They were twelve 

in number, for every tribe a loaf. There is enough 
in Christ to supply the wants of his people, who 
may say, ** Out of his fulness have we all received." 

They were continually present before the Lord. 

Jesus Christ is the angel of his presence, who ap- 
pears before the Lord continually as the representa- 
tive of Israel — They were crowned with frank- 
incense. This is an emblem of the acceptableness 
of his sacrifice and intercession, or of their sweet 
smelling savor unto God. — They were renewed 
every sabbath morning by the priests. For the 
doctrine of Jesus Christ, or the spiritual provision 
exhibited on the table of the gospel in order that it 
may prove always palatable to the hearers, the min- 
isters of the word ought, as the legal priests, to re- 
new it every Sabbath ; not indeed by preaching 
novel doctrines, but by clothing old truths in a new 
dress, or, to use the expression of our Lord, **Bring- 
ing out of their treasury things new and old." By 
this means the attention will be fed, weariness re- 
lieved, and appetite increased. — They were eaten 
by the priests in the holy place after they were re- 
moved from the presence table. So Christ the 
bread of God must be eaten, that is, believed in, 
that we may receive from him both life and strength. 
The ministers of the gospel must feed on that same 
Christ whom they exhibit unto others ; and all the 
11 



222 TYPICAL PLACES. 

saints are that royal priesthood, whose privilege it is 
to eat this bread of God. And if others are admitted 
to the most holy ordinances, the table of the Lord is 
contemptible indeed. I shall only add, that unless 
this heavenly bread had been first presented unto 
the Lord, he w^ould not been presented to men as 
food to the hungry soul. 

Let us now consider the show bread as an emblem 
of the church, which is his body, of which it is said, 
We being many are one bread. Indeed the number 
of the loaves, corresponding to the number of the 
tribes, did certainly intimate, that they represented 
the Israel of God. Christ is that corn of wheat 
which fell into the ground, and died, that he might 
not abide alone ; and from him believers grow as 
their parent root. Christ is that golden table that 
continually supports and presents them before the 
Lord. They were crowned with frankincense : for 
their prayers are directed to God as incense, and the 
intercession of Jesus Christ perfumes at once their 
persons, and w^orks, as with all the powders of the 
merchant. They were disposed in two regular 
rows. Which may denote the comely order of the 
churches. They were renewed every week. So 
one generation of Christians succeed another. Or 
perhaps we may take occasion to think how distaste- 
ful unto God are stale and mouldy professors, who 
have left their first love, and are, like Ephraim, as 
cakes not turned. They w^ere, lastly to be eaten by 
the priests. May we be allowed thus to allegorize 
this last particular : when the faithful have served 
their generation, and are removed from further use- 
fulness in this world, they are not rejected as useless 
altogether, but they become the inheritance of Jesus 
Christ, the true Priest ; as the old bread was not 
cast away, but fed upon by the typical priesthood 
in the holy place. 



223 



Thirdly, THE ORDINANCE OF THE 
GOLDEN CANDLESTICK. 

Over against the table there was a golden can- 
dlestick set on the north side, that the sanctuary- 
might never be dark. It consisted of a large stalk, 
w^ith six branches, and every branch was in three 
different places adorned with a bowl, like an almond, 
a knop, and a flower. The tongs and snufl* dishes 
were pure gold, as the candlestick itself. At the 
extremities of the stalk and branches were seven 
lamps, which were fed with pure olive oil, and 
lighted every evening by the priests, who burned 
incense at the same time. 

Was not this an emblem of the true light that 
lighteth every man that cometh into the world ] 
Not only is Jesus Christ, in many texts of scripture 
resembled unto the light of the sun, but it is said in 
one place, " Thou art my lamp, O Lord, and the 
Lord will enlighten my darkness." — 2 >Saw. xxii. 19. 
The pure beaten gold of this candlestick may denote 
the spotless holiness, and the invaluable worth of 
Jesus, who was beaten, if we may so speak, with 
the hammer of adversity, and made perfect through 
suffering. The oil that nourished the lamps, is an 
emblem of the Holy Ghost, that annointed him to 
preach glad tidings to the meek. The number of 
the lamps, which was seven, imports the perfection 
of his light. The sanctuary where they shone, is 
the church ; and the priests that trimmed them, are 
the ministers of the gospel, whose office it is to elu- 
cidate the mystery of Christ. The light which was 
shed all around from this candlestick, may represent 
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the 
face of Jesus, which shines into the hearts of all the 
royal priesthood, or the light of the scriptures, 
which are the rays of Jesus Christ, and to which 



224 TYPICAL PLACES. 

we do well to take heed, as to a light that shineth 
in a dark place. 

That the golden candlestick was also a figure of 
the church, will appear very probable, when we 
consider, that Zacharias, an Old Testament prophet, 
saw, in the visions of God, as her emblem, a golden 
candlestick, supplied with golden oil from two olive 
trees ; and John^ a New Testament apostle, when 
he was in the Spirit, beheld our great High-Priest 
in sacerdotal robes, walking in the midst of the 
seven golden candlesticks, which were the seven 
Asian churches. But let us, for further proof, ob- 
serve the likeness of this sacred utensil to the whole 
and every particular church. 

We shall, first, consider the candlestick itself. Its 
use was to receive the materials of the light ; and 
then to spread it abroad. Even so the church re- 
ceives the truth in the first place, and then holds it 
forth by purity of doctrine, and sanctity of life. 

Its matter was pure and beaten gold. The church 
may be a lamb despised in the thoughts of worldly 
men, and esteemed as an earthen pitcher ; yet in 
the eyes of the Lord she is comparable to fine gold. 
O how the gold becomes dim in the presence of faith 
and holiness ] She is pure gold, being purged 
from the dross of reigning corruption by the blood, 
by the Spirit, and by the word of Christ. She is 
beaten gold, being partaker of the afflictions of the 
gospel. By these means she is a vessel made meet 
for the Master's use. For shape. It was divided 
into six branches, united by one common stalk. 
This signifies the coalition of all true churches and 
sound believers into one great society, which is 
found upon their common relation to Jesus Christ, 
the centre of the union. The ornaments of almonds, 
knops, and flowers,which decorated all the branches, 
may denote the various gifts and graces with which 
every church should be adorned, that she may with 



OF THE GOLDEN CANDLESTICK. 225 

greater dignity hold forth the word of life. The 
tongs and snuff dishes were not more necessary ap- 
pendages to the golden candlestick, than church- 
censures, and brotherly admonitions, are to every 
society of Christians. By means of these instru- 
ments the lamps burned clear, and the floor of the 
holy place was not sullied. So the discipline of the 
church is an excellent mean to preserve. the lamp of 
gospel-light fi'om defilement, by the superfluity of 
naughtiness. The oil burning in the seven lamps of 
the candle- stick, is an emblem of the Holy Ghost 
in his various gifts who resides in the church, is 
compared unto oil and unto fire, and of whom the 
apostle John speaks in this enigmatical manner, 
when he saw the visions of the Almighty, "And 
there were seven lamps of fire burning before the 
throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.'* So 
much for the candlestick itself. 

Let us now glance at the ministry of the priests 
about this holy vessel. They were to supply it with 
oil, to trim the lamps, and light them every evening, 
and to burn incense the same time. Might 
not this signify the watchful care of the Minister of 
the sanctuaiy and true tabernacle, who walks in the 
midst of the seven golden candlesticks, imparts unto 
them all necessaiy supplies of the heavenly unction, 
quenches not the smoking flax, but strengthens the 
things that remain, and are ready to die ; while at 
the same time he offers unto God the grateful in- 
cense of his prevalent intercession in their behalf ] 
And may it not further adumbrate the duty and 
office of all the ministers of the gospel, who, in the 
evening of the world, are to light the lamp ordained 
for God's Anointed ] " They shall teach Jacob thy 
judgments, O Lord, and Israel thy law ; they shall 
put incense before thee, and whole burnt-offerings 
upon thine altar.'* It is their province, while they 
direct unto God the incense of ferv^ent prayer to 



226 TYPICAL PLACES. 

make their lamps burn clear, by supplying them 
with the oil of pure doctrine, and trimming them 
with the tongs of wholesome discipline, and salutary 
admonition. " For Zion's sake, let them not hold 
their peace, and for Jerusalem's sake, let them 
not rest, till the righteousness thereof go forth as 
brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that 
burneth.'' . 



Fourthly. THE ORDINANCE OF THE 
GOLDEN ALTAR. 

In the inner part of the sanctuary, there stood a 
four square altar of Shittim wood, overlaid with 
gold. It was encompassed with a golden crown, 
furnished with golden rings for carriage, like the ark 
and table of show bread, and graced with four 
golden horns at its four corners. To this secret 
altar none but the priests were to approach ; not to 
^ffer propitiatory sacrifices, as upon the altar of 
burnt offering, but to burn incense of sweet spices 
morning and evening before the Lord. The con- 
fection of this sacred perfume is minutely prescribed 
with a strict prohibition of imitating it for any other 
use. It was a figure of the intercession of the great 
High-Priest before the throne, or the altar of burnr- 
offering was a figure of his satisfactory oblation up- 
on the earth. Let us first attend unto the altar, and 
next unto the incense. 

The altar itself was, first, a golden crowned altar ; 
which signifies the glorious dignity of the royal in- 
tercessor, who is a Priest upon his throne, and is set 
down on the right hand of the heavenly Majesty. — 
It was a square altar, equally respecting the four 
corners of the world ; to denote how accessible he 
is to all the ends of the earth. It was a moveable 



OF THE GOLDEN ALTAR. 227 

altar, capable of being transported wherever the 
church of Israel went : An emblem of his perpetual 
presence in all places where his name is recorded, 
or where his people are afflicted. A jail, an isle of 
Patmos, a lion's den, a fish's belly, a fiery furnace, 
are all alike to him, who never leaves, never for- 
sakes his chosen and his called. — It was a hidden 
altar, to w^hich none approached except the sons of 
Levi. To know Christ as their interceding priest, 
is the distinguished privilege of all the royal priest- 
hood. These only see him by faith, whom the world 
seeth no more. But as the way to the golden altar 
of incense was to pass by the brazen altar of burnt- 
offering ; so none can come to Jesus, as ever liveth 
to make intercession for them, who came not to him 
as dying once to atone for their guilt, and put away 
their sin by the saciifice of himself. — It was a horned 
altar. And what should these four horns at its four 
corners portend, but the strength and prevalence of 
his intercession whom the Father heareth always, 
and who is able to save unto the uttermost all who 
come unto God by him from the four winds of 
heaven ] — It was an altar stained with blood ; for, 
though no sacrifices for expiation were offered up- 
on it, yet Aaron was commanded to tip its horns 
every year with the blood of atonements. The 
blood of Jesus Christ the righteous, is the strength 
of his advocacy. This blood presented for ever 
before the throne of God, enforces all his suits with 
louder cries than ever the blood of Abel sent from 
the ground, imploring vengeance on the first mur^ 
derer. 

From the altar, let us come to the incense burned 
upon it. It represents both the merits of Jesus 
Christ, and the prayers of all saints. 

The merits of Jesus Christ is that incense in 
•which the prayers, and tears, and works of all the 
saints are clad, and wherein they ascend, like Man- 



228 TYPICAL PLACES. 

call's angel, before the presence of Jehovah. — That 
incense was composed of sweet spices, that shed a 
rich perfume ; but not so grateful to men, as the 
sweet-smelling sacrifices of Christ was savory unto 
God. — That incense was burned in the sanctuary, 
while the people were praying without. The ap- 
pearing of our High-Priest, in the heavenly sanc- 
tuary with the sweet odor of his merits, by no means 
supersedes the prayers of saints on earth. " For 
these things will God be/' not only solicited by the 
intercession of his Son, but " inquired of by the 
house of Israel, that he may do it for them." — That 
incense was continually burned before the Lord, 
and was a perpetual incense throughout their gene- 
rations. The intercession of Jesus Christ is ever- 
lasting, because he ever liveth. Never, never shall 
it be discontinued, till all its ends are fully reached, 
and the elect vessel be prayed home to glory. — That 
incense was not to be counterfeited, or imitated for 
any other purpose. Detested be the impiety of that 
harlot church, who confide in the merits of any saint, 
living or dead, ascribing on whatsoever pretence, 
the Mediator's glory to another. But the time ap- 
proaches when this counterfeit incense, the com- 
modity of Babylon, shall no more be bought by the 
merchants of the earth. 

The prayers of saints are also said to be directed 
as incense before the Lord, and are resembled to 
odors preserved in vials of gold, by a New Testa- 
ment writer. Prayer is that incense, which, accord- 
ing to Malachi's prediction, shall be offered to the 
name of the Lord in every place. Was the holy in- 
cense compounded of various sweet spices ? The 
graces of the Holy Ghost are the precious ingredi- 
ents in the effectual prayer of the righteous. Some 
of them were beaten very small. Perhaps to inti- 
mate that brokenness of heart, and contrition of 
spirit, which the high and lofty one One requires in 



OF THE BRAZEN ALTAR. 229 

the worshippers at his footstool. The fire that 
burned the incense, may denote the fervency of 
spirit required in acceptable worship. But take 
heed of the sparks of your own kindling, and lift up 
holy hands without wrath : for incense must not be 
kindled with fire from the kitchen, but the altar. 
Was the incense burned morning and evening con- 
tinually ? And can we reasonably think the incense 
of prayer and praise should be less frequently ad- 
dressed to the God that dwells in the heavens? 
Jesus Christ is the altar ; Jesus Christ is the Priest 
who stands with his golden censer; by him your 
incense of prayer, and your incense of praise, shall 
go up for a memorial before God, and meet with 
gracious acceptance. Without him even incense is 
an abomination unto God, and the most solemn 
duties are a smoke in his nostrils, and a fire that 
burneth all the day. 



Fifthly. THE ORDINANCE OF THE 
BRAZEN ALTAR. 

Let us next consider the altar of burnt-offering, 
which was a chief part of the holy furniture, both of 
the tabernacle and temple. Its materials were brass 
and cedar wood, its shape four square, its station 
was in the outward court. It protected criminals 
that fled unto it, sanctified gifts, and alimented the 
priests. It was ornamented with four horns of brass 
flourishing from its corners, and upon it the sacred 
fire was kept perpetually alive. The ceremonies of 
its consecration lasted for seven days, and it is called 
, by God, an altar most holy, that should impart a le- 
gal holiness to eveiy thing that touched it. In ordin- 
ary cases, it was not lawful to offer sacrifices upon 
any other altar but this alone. 

11* 



230 TYPICAL PLACES. 

That Jesus Chiist is the antitype, of this altar, the 
apostle to the Hebrews permits us not to doubt ; for, 
speaking of him, he says, " We have an altar, where- 
of they have no right to eat who serve the taber- 
nacle." He says not altars, as if they were many, 
but an altar, speaking of one, and this altar is Christ. 
As the intercession of Jesus Chsist, was typified by 
the golden altar of incense; so the altar of burnt- offer- 
ings represented both his satisfaction in general, and 
his Godhead in particular. Let us begin with the first. 

It represented the person of our Redeemer, as the 
propitiation for our sins. It was a brazen altar. 
Was it not the same glorious Person whom Ezekiel 
saw like a man of brass, with a line of flax in his 
hand, to measure the temple, and whose feet are de- 
scribed in the visions of John, like fine brass, as if 
they burned in a furnace ] Brass is a cheap and 
common metal. When by himself he purged our 
sins, he shone not with golden lustre ; for his visage 
was marred more than any man's, and his form more 
than the sons of men. Brass is a strong metal, and 
fit to endure the fire. Our strength was not the 
strength of stones, our flesh was not of brass, to dwell 
with devouring fire, to abide with everlasting burn- 
ing : but Christ was the mighty One, who felt the 
power of God's anger, and was not devoured by the 
fiery indignation. It was a horned altar : This sig- 
nifies the strength of his atonement both to satisfy 
the justice of God, and pacify the conscience of men. 
It was a four square altar : An emblem of his per- 
petual stability, who is the same to day, yesterday, 
and for ever. It was a public altar. For the death 
of Christ was to be a transaction of the most public 
kind. It was a burning altar, on which the fire 
never went out. The Holy Ghost is that eternal 
Spint of j udgment and of burning, through whom 
he offered up himself unto God, and who dwells for 
ever in the Son. With this holy fire the great High 
Priest inflamed his legal sacrifice of atonement, and 



OF THE BRAZEN ALTAR. 231 - 

with this holy fire the royal priesthood ought to kin- 
dle their moral sacrifice of praise, which they oflfer 
by him continually. It was an only altar, and by 
the law of Moses, admitted not any rival. So Jesus 
Christ is the one mediator between God and man. 
To multiply mediators is no less condemned by the 
New Testament, than to multiply altars by the Old. 
It was an altar most holy, that sanctified all gifts. 
Whether we present unto Qod the meat-offering of 
alms, the drink-offering of tears, the peace-offering 
of thanksgiving, the heave-offering of prayer, or the 
whole burnt-offering of body and soul, by him alone 
they are sanctified and accepted, as the altar sancti- 
fied the gift. It was an altar that protected criminals 
who fled imto it; though for some crimes they were 
to be dragged from it to suffer condign punishment. 
In Jesus Christ the guilty sinner finds a refuge from 
legal condemnation ; nor can they fail of making 
peace with him, who by faith take hold of his 
sti'ength, be their crimes ever so atrocious. It was 
an altar that nourished the Levitical priesthood who 
served at it, and were partakers with it. Even so 
the happy persons who are made priests unto Grod, 
and partakers of Christ, receive from him, not a 
natural, but a spiritual and eternal life, " For he that 
eateth me,'^ himself declares, ''shall live by me.'' 

But in a particular manner his Deity seems fit to 
be called tlie altar on which he offered his humanity 
for he was his own altar no less than ours. It was 
not the wo.oden cross on which he died, that sei'ved 
him for an altar. Far less can the material table on 
which the holy memorials are exhibited in the sacra- 
ment of the supper, deserve any such glorious epi- 
thet. Hear what himself says about the altar and 
the gift, "" Ye fools and blind : for whether is greater, 
the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift % " Will 
any dare to say that the wooden cross was greater 
than the soul and body of the Redeemer who expired 



232 TYPICAL PLACES. 

on it ] or that the table of the supper is greater than 
the consecrated symbols of his body and blood] 
If it be possible to find any thing greater than the 
humanity of the Lord and Savior, except his own 
divinity, his own divinity and nothing else, must be 
the altar. Did the altar support the gift or victim 
while it was burning upon it 1 It was the Godhead 
of Christ that supported the manhood from sinking 
under these direful sufferings he patiently endured. 
Did the altar sanctify the gifts that touched it 1 It 
was the Deity of Christ that sanctified the gift of his 
humanity, and imparted a dignity and value to the 
sacrifice of his body and soul. The sins of many 
are fully expiated by the sufferings of one, because 
he is God, and there is none else ; besides him there 
is no Savior. 

Blessed be God for such an High-Priest, such a 
temple, such a sacrifice, such an altar of burnt-offer- 
ing and incense. We have an altar not only in the 
midst of the land of Canaan, but in the midst of the 
land of Egypt, to which the sons of the strangers 
may bring their sacrifices. We have an altar which 
God will never cast off, a sanctuary which he will 
never abhor. The great atoning sacrifice is already 
offered up ; what remains for us but to render unto 
a gracious God the calves, not of the stall, but of the 
lips, and the sacrifice of praise continually. 



Sixthly. THE ORDINANCE OF THE 
BRAZEN LAYER. 

The divers washings enjoined in the law of 
Moses, were no doubt a very significant branch of 
that ritual economy : for not only did the heathen 
nations adopt this custom in their false worship of 
imaginary gods ; but a shadow of it is still retained 



OF THE BRAZEN LAVER. 233 

in the Cliristian baptism, the initiating ordinance of 
the Church. The daily illustration of the Levitical 
priesthood we shall presently glance at. 

At the entrance of the tabernacle of the congre- 
gation, before you came to the brazen altar, was set, 
by the appointment of the Lord, a pure vessel, or 
laver of polished brass. The materials of it were 
furnished by some religious women, who comple- 
mented their looking glasses for this purpose, conse- 
crating these instruments, perhaps of vanity, to the 
sacred use of adorning the worship of the true God. 
Though the shape of this vessel is not minutely de- 
scribed by Moses, it was certainly so contrived, as 
the water it contained might be emptied by vents 
or pipes : for the priests were ordered, on pain of 
death, to wash their hands and feet at this laver when 
they went into the tabernacle, or approached unto 
the altar. At the first this washing pot was proba- 
bly of small size ; but when Solomon built his mag- 
nificent temple, he made also a laver of large dimen- 
sions, which, on account of the huge quantity of 
water it was capable to hold, was called a molten sea, 
and set it on a base of twelve oxen of brass, not 
without the direction of Heaven, as we may well 
presume. 

Did the pure and holy God intend by this law 
only to require from his worshippers the putting 
away the filth of the flesh, which might be done with 
material water, and by such as had neither their 
hearts clean, nor their hands pure 1 Is washing the 
body with the purest water, an adequate preparation 
for coming into the presence of that God, in whose 
sight the heavens are not clean 1 Far be it from us 
to harbor so foolish a thought. The purification of 
the soul from spiritual pollution, was the thing in- 
tended by this carnal ordinance. The laver is Jesus 
Christ himself, who cleanses all the royal priesthood 
from the foul contagion of sin, by the word which he 



234 TYPICAL PLACES. 

speaks to them, by the Spirit which he sheds upon 
them, and by the blood he poured out for them. 
Was the laver a pure and cleanly vessel 1 This may 
denote the innocence and spotless purity of the glo- 
rious Immanuel, together with his fitness to preserve 
all that are in him holy and unblameable. Was it 
a large and capacious vessel, and therefore styled a 
sea ] This may remind us of that vast and inex- 
haustible fulness, which ever dwells in the New 
Testament laver, by which he is able to sprinkle 
many nations, and wash away the crimes of all who 
come unto God by him. Was it an open vessel, that 
stood in the most public situation 1 A prophet styles 
the blessed Redeemer, " a fountain opened in the 
house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 
for sin and for uncleanness.^^ Was it a consecrated 
vessel ] for Moses anointed the laver and his foot 
with the holy anointing oil. Christ Jesus was conse- 
crated for ever more to his saving office, and anointed 
with the Holy Ghost in the most ample measure. 
Was it supported by twelve oxen in the temple of 
Solomon 1 These brazen figures, that looked to all 
the winds of heaven, may not absurdly be viewed as 
emblems of the twelve apostles, who bore Christ's 
name to the Gentiles, who poured the doctrine of 
salvation in all the quarters of the world. For not 
only does the number of the oxen correspond to the 
number of the apostles of the Lamb : but the ser- 
vants of Christ are in other passages held forth un- 
der the emblem of these robust, laborious, and use- 
ful animals. 

But the use which the priests under the law were 
commanded to make of this vessel on all occasions, 
under the severest penalty, is the most remarkable 
circumstance we are to attend unto. They were to 
wash their hands and feet with the water of this ves- 
sel when they entered the tabernacle, on pain of 
death. These priests are figures not only of all of- 



OF THE ANOINTINa OIL. 235 

fice-bearers in the church, who ought to be pure and 
holy, but of all the holy nations of Christians, who 
having a great High-Priest over the house of God, 
ought to draw near with true hearts, and in the full 
assurance of faith having their hearts sprinkled from 
an evil conscience, and their bodies washed with 
pure water. It is true, they are washed and justified 
already in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the 
Spiiit of our God; yet still they need to wash their 
hands and feet. The sins of daily walk, demand 
fresh application to the laver of his atoning blood, 
even from the holiest saints on earth. Faith is the 
hand by which this purifying water is applied to the 
conscience. Would we approach to God in holy 
duties'? would we ascend the hill of the Lord, and 
stand in his holy place ] then, in a special manner, 
must we lay aside all filthiness and superfluity of 
naughtiness, resolving with the sweet singer of Is- 
rael, " I will wash mine hands in innocency, and so 
will I compass thine altar, O Lord.'' But whoever 
they be that prefer the mire of their sin to the laver 
of his blood, think to wash away their stains with 
the nitre and soap of their own righteousness, they 
shall die before the Lord, be excluded from his bea- 
tific presence, and become an abhorring unto all 
flesh for ever more. 



Seventhly. THE ORDINANCE OF THE 
ANOINTING OIL. 

In Jesus Christ we have also the antitype of the 
legal unctions, no less than of the divers washings 
and sacrifices, which is to be declared. The Jewish 
law-giver is commanded, in a very particular man- 
ner, to take unto him of the principal spices, five hun- 
dred shekels of pure myrrh, — -half as much of sweet 



236 TYPICAL PLACES. 

cinnamon, — five hundred shekels of cassia, — ^lialf as 
much of sweet calamus. These precious ingredients 
were to be compounded by the apothecary's art in 
a hin of olive oil. The use of this holy oil was to 
anoint the tabernacle, and its furniture, and Aaron 
with his sons. But it was strictly forbidden to ap- 
ply it to any other use, to put it upon any stranger, 
or to make any thing like it, after the composition of 
it. " This," said God to the Israelites, " shall be a 
holy anointing oil to me throughout your genera- 
tions." Let us come to the concealed mystery of 
this ordinance. 

Then was this type fulfilled, when the Lord's 
Anointed was endued with the gifts and graces of the 
Holy Ghost, which God gave not by measure unto 
him. Hear what himself declares by the mouth of 
the prophet Isaiah, " The Spirit of the Lord is upon 
me, because he hath anointed me." And therefore 
are the disciples of Christ styled Christians, because 
it is supposed they have also an unction from the 
holy One. 

Surely it is not without sufificient reasons, that an- 
ointing with oil, and receiving the gift of the Holy 
Ghost are phrases of the same impoit in the lan- 
guage of inspiration. If oil is of a healing nature, 
and fit to appease the anguish of rankled wounds ; 
the Spirit of God is that mollifying ointment, by 
which the wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores, 
occasioned by the fall, are gradually healed, until at 
last the cure is so completely wrought, that not a 
scar remains. If oil is of a beautifying quality, and 
makes the human face to shine ; by the benign 
agency of the sanctifying Spirit, our souls are made 
as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and are 
presented at last in the presence of his glory, with- 
out spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. If oil is sa- 
vory to the taste, imparting to other esculents an 
agreeable flavor, without the Spirit, what is the word 



OF THE ANOINTING OIL. 237 

itself but a dry morsel ? but when he sheds his kindly 
influences, then do we find the word and eat it, it is 
to us the joy and rejoicing of our heart. If oil is of 
an exhilarating virtue, gi'eatly refreshing the animal 
spirits of them who are anointed ; this puts us in 
mind of the reviving operations of the Comforter, 
who is the Holy Ghost, the true oil of gladness, 
whose fruit is joy and peace. In the same manner 
we might apply the strengthening, softening, pre- 
serving, insinuating properties of this staple com- 
modity of Canaan, to the like operations of the di- 
vine Spirit. 

But let us rather reflect upon the special qualities 
of the holy anointing oil, which Moses made accord- 
ing to the divine dispensatory. It was compounded 
of various costly ingredients ; to represent perhaps, 
the great variety of heavenly gifts and graces, which 
are conferred by the spirit of the Lord, and the di- 
versities of his operations. It shed a most delightful 
perfume, even to a proverb, when poured on the 
head of Aaron. Of a greater than he it is said, "All 
thy garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia :*' 
and again, " Because of the savour of thy good oint- 
ments, therefore do the virgins love thee." The 
quantity which Moses made was considerably large, 
and sufficient to anoint both the priests, the taberna- 
cle and all its sacred vessels. May not this faintly 
adumbrate the fulness of the Spirit by which he is 
able, not only to anoint our great High Priest, but 
likewise all the sanctified vessels, that are made meet 
for the Master's use 1 It was unlawful to make any 
thing like it ; and the Jews affirm, with great prob- 
ability, that it was never but once prepared ; though 
they fabulously add, that it was wasted not by use 
for many generations. This may denote how dis- 
pleasing it is to God to counterfeit his Holy Spirit ; 
and as we are to try the spirits, whether they be of 
God, so in all generations there is but one Spirit, as 



^38 TYPICAL PLACES. 

there is one body mystical, and one hope of our call- 
ing. The prohibition of putting any of it on a stran- 
ger, may signify, that the spiritual unction is the pe- 
culiar privilege of saints, which, to use the expression 
of our Lord, " the world cannot receive.'' And lastly, 
as this anointing oil did sanctify the persons and 
things to which it was "applied, consecrated them, 
forever to the service of God, and entitled them to 
his protection. So the happy souls who have received, 
not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is of 
God, are sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus, 
and by the Spirit of our God ; are sealed unto the 
day of redemption ; and the unction they have re- 
ceived, abideth in them. Because of this anointing, 
their yokes shall be destroyed. " Touch not mine 
anointed, ye enemies of their salvation, will the Lord 
say, and do no harm to my peculiar people." Let 
others drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves 
with the chief ointments : but give us, O Lord, this 
holy oil for ever more. 



IV. THE LAND OF CANAAN. 

The land that flowed with milk and honey, de- 
serves a particular consideration among the other 
shadows of good things to come. God promised to 
the fathers of the holy nation, *' I will give you the 
land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance, when 
they were but a few men in number, yea, very few, 
and strangers in it." This promise he performed 
to their posterity at the appointed time, when, under 
the conduct of Joshua, he drove out the Heathen, 
and planted them. But was this all which God 
provided for his people ] Was the promise of an 
earthly inheritance the blissful hope that supported 
the believing patriarchs in the few and evil days of 



THE LAND OF CANAAN. 239 

their pilgrimage ] Was there no other rest remain- 
ing for the people of God, but that which Joshua 
gave them ] Then indeed they had been, upon the 
whole, considerable losers by their religion, and God 
would been ashamed to be called their God. It is 
true the earthly Canaan was a delicious country, a 
land of brooks of water, of fountains and deeps, 
that sprang out of the valleys and hills ; — a land 
where they did eat butter of kine, and milk of sheep, 
fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and 
goats with the fat of kidneys of wheat, they did 
drink the pure blood of the grape ; — a land whose 
rich soil produced whatever could fill the cup of joy, 
or load the board of plenty. But alas ! what cruel 
mockery had it been to propose no sublimer enjoy- 
ments than these to the lovers of his blessed name ] 
Are such things an adequate portion to the immortal 
spirit in man 1 Besides the patriarch's themselves 
sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange 
country, and had not so much as a grave to call 
their own, till bought with money. And their pos- 
terity, the people of his holiness, possessed it but a 
little time. What was the language of all this ] 
Did it not proclaim, in loudest accents, both to the 
patriarchs and their seed, "Arise ye and depart; 
for this is not your final rest ] I have provided for 
you, O my people, a better heavenly country, of 
which this pleasant land is but a pledge and sha- 
dow." Beyond all doubt the godly patriarchs re- 
garded the promised land in this amiable light ; and 
it is hard to imagine how Moses, that wise and gi-eat 
law-giver, could been so passionately desirous to 
see, before he died, that good land beyond Jordan, 
if he bad not considered it as a pledge of God's 
eternal rest. Let us add to all this the sublime en- 
comiums that are every where bestowed upon 
Canaan, in Moses and the prophets. Surely there 
was nothing about that little spot of earth to entitle 



240 TYPICAL PLACES. 

it to such high eulogiums, as, *^ the glory of all 
lands, the pleasant land, and thy land, O Immanuel." 
But when we view it as a type of the heavenly in- 
heritance, the propriety of these grand epithets im- 
mediately discovers itself. Let us see where the 
resemblance lies. 

Canaan was a land originally possessed by other 
nations, whom the Lord drove out for their wicked- 
ness. It is revealed in the scriptures, that the celes- 
tial manisons were first inhabited by these once 
pure, but now apostate spirits, who, for rebellion 
against their eternal Sovereign, were driven out 
from God and bliss, and their places in heaven shall 
know them again no more. 

It was a land of amazing fertility. And such is 
the tender condescension of the heavenly Father, as 
to describe, by earthly similitudes, that fulness of 
joy in his beatific presence, and all the rich variety 
of spiritual and eternal blessings. The plenty of 
Canaan, where they did eat bread without scarce- 
ness, was an emblem of the fatness of God's house. 
In heaven they shall not want any good thing that 
can be perfective of their natures, or conducive to 
their true felicity. " There,'' to use the prophetic 
style, " the mountains shall drop down sweet wine, 
and the hills shall flow with milk." They shall not 
hunger nor thirst ; for the tree of life for ever hangs 
out his golden fruit, and the water of life for ever 
rolls its silver stream. 

It was a promised land, and promised long be- 
fore the possession was actually taken, to the father 
of their nation, four hundred and thirty years before 
the law. Even so, eternal life was promised to 
Christ, the everlasting Father, not only antecedent 
to the good works of his seed, but before the world : 
and though the Lord is not slack concerning his 
promise ; yet we have need of patience, even though 
we have done the will of God, that we may inherit 
the promises. 



THE LAND OF CANAAN. 241 

It was a land which their own righteousness could 
not merit, and which their own sword could not pro- 
cure. Their induction into -it is, in the strongest 
terms, ascribed to the sovereign grace and out- 
stretched arm of God, who showed to his people the 
power of his works, that he might give them the 
heritage of the Heathen. Should we vainly arro- 
gate unto ourselves the honor of deserving, by our 
best works, our access to the heavenly inheritance, 
there is one that condemns us, even Moses in whom 
we trust. " Speak not thou in heart,'' says that 
great law-giver to his people, " for my righteousness 
the Lord hath brought me in- to possess this land. 
Not for thy righteousness, or the uprightness of 
thine heart, dost thou go to possess it ; for thou art 
a stiff necked people." Can any be so absurd as to 
affirm, that though the earthly inheritance could not, 
yet the heavenly inheritance may be merited by 
works of righteousness that we have done ? 

It was a land to which they went through many 
hardships and difficulties, through floods, and wilder- 
nesses, and legions of opposing foes. They had both 
real and imaginary discouragements to grapple with. 
Even so the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and 
through much tribulation w^e must enter into it, 
though it be a purchased possession, and a promised 
inheritance. But as neither Sihon king of the 
Amorites, nor Og king of Bashan, nor the formid- 
able giants the sons of Anak, could hinder the Is- 
raelites from their promised rest ; so neither shall 
the power of the enemy, however great and dread- 
ful, be able to retard the meanest saint, who takes 
unto him the whole armor of God, and with deter- 
mined ardor fights the good fight of faith, and lays 
hold on eternal life. 

It was a land which many despised, and through 
unbelief they came short of the promise, and their 
carcases fell in the wilderness. And many alas ! 



242 TYPICAL PLACES. 

prefer the present pleasures of sin, to all the ravish- 
ing prospects of eternity. Instead of seeking this 
better country all the days of their life, it is the 
land which they abhor. 

It was a land which the Israelites obtained not till 
Moses was dead. None are brought to heaven till 
they be dead to the law by the body of Christ. He 
is the true Joshua, or the Captain of salvation, who 
brings many sons unto glory, and conducts them 
through the Jordan of death, into the inheritance 
incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away. 



V. THE HOLY CITY OF JERUSALEM, AND 
THE HOLY HILL OF ZION. 

But we must not forget thee, O Jerusalem, thou 
famed metropolis of Judea, nor that adjacent hill of 
Zion, the royal residence of David, where the tem- 
ple also stood. Such glorious things have been 
spoken of this city and mountain, as can by no 
means agree to them, when viewed only in the let- 
ter. It is long, very long, since Zion was ploughed 
as a field, since the palaces of Jerusalem have been 
levelled with the ground : " Go ye upon her walls,'' 
said God to the victorious Roman army, " and take 
away her battlements ; for they are not the Lord's" 
But still there is a spiritual Zion, on which the 
Lamb stands with his redeemed tribes ; still there 
is a heavenly Jerusalem, to which the general 
assembly and church of the firstborn are said to 
come. What should this spiritual Zion and heaven- 
ly Jerusalem be but the militant and triumphant 
Church of Christ, of which the earthly Zion, and 
the worldly Jerusalem, were the shadow and type ? 
The old mount Zion was equally with mount Sinai, 
a mount that might be touched, being a corporeal 



THE HOLY CITY OF JERUSALEM, &c. US 

substance ; and the old Jerusalem was a city that 
might be razed to its foundations ; but the true Zion 
is a spiritual thing, which cannot be touched : and 
the new Jerusalem is a city that hath foundations, 
and never can be moved. 

There were hills more eminent than Zion, and 
towns more potent than Jerusalem ; yet no moun- 
tain or city makes so distinguished a figure in the 
sacred page. It was not the natural elegance of 
Zion and Jerusalem, nor the fortified situation of 
of these places, that could entitle them to such high 
eulogiums as are every where bestowed upon them 
by the inspired penmen. It is tioie indeed, the 
beautiful situation of mount Zion, and the compact 
form of Jerusalem, which was comely to a proverb, 
deserved their due praises ; and their strength, both 
of nature and art, was far from being despicable. 
It may be also affirmed, that the Holy Ghost in- 
tended a faint representation of the invincible 
strength, and spiritual beauty of the Church, in the 
strength and beauty of these holy places. But the 
extraordinary regard which the great Jehovah Was 
pleased to testify towards his holy hill of Zion, and 
his beloved city of Jerusalem, is the chief thing 
which exalted that little hill above the great moun- 
tains of the world, and ennobled that metropolis 
above all other cities, however populous or magnifi- 
cent. Why do ye leap, ye high hills ] why do ye 
exult against the little hill of Zion, as if ye were 
superior to it ] This is the hill which God desires 
to dwell in : the Lord shall dwell in it forever. This 
makes it a high hill, a high hill as the hill of Bashan; 
this renders it the perfection of beauty, and the joy 
of the whole earth. Exactly so, it is the distin- 
guished favor, and sovereign love of God, bestowed 
upon his Church, that ennobles it beyond all other 
societies, however inferior to them in the beauty of 
earthly splendor, and worldly dominion. Let us see 



244 TYPICAL PLACES. 

then what are the remarks of the divine regard to 
these sacred places, which rendered them fit em- 
blems of the real church in all ages. 

They were places where God set his king, and the 
thrones of the house of David. That illustrious 
monarch who founded the long line of the Jewish 
kings, having rescued Jerusalem and Zion from the 
Jebusites by the force of arms, he fortified them, 
and made them the places of his royal residence. 
The spiritual Zion is the city of the great King, 
that is, of Jesus Christ, who won it out of the. hands 
of idolatrous Gentiles, who boasted of their idols, 
though lame and blind. Christ is the true David, 
who indeed was signified by all the kings of Israel, 
his lineal successors, who had gained this notable 
victory over the Gentile world ; and in those very 
places where superstition reigned, hath builded his 
Church, fixed his throne, and issued forth his 
righteous laws. If it was a distinguishing privilege 
of the ancient Zion and Jerusalem, to be the seat of 
a king of Heaven's election, how greatly superior 
is the New Jerusalem and Gospel Zion, in being the 
seat of the King of kings, who sits upon the throne, 
and has the key of David ] *' Cry out and shout, 
thou inhabitants of Zion, thy king shall never perish 
and great is the holy One of Israel in the midst of 
thee." 

They were places where God established his wor- 
ship, and to which the tribes of the Lord resorted, 
because of his house at Jerusalem. Here the voice 
of his praise was heard, and sacrifices came with 
acceptance upon his altar. Jerusalem was the city 
of Jewish solemnities ; and it is foretold by the 
prophets, that the once hostile nations round about 
them, should pay them annual visits, and join in 
their holy festivals ; yea, says the prophet Isaiah, 
** From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath 
to Sabbath, shall all flesh come to worship before 



THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 245 

the Lord of hosts/' Now, it is evident, these high 
predictions were never accomplished in the earthly 
Zion and Jerusalem : yea it is impossible they can 
be accomplished in their literal sense ; the nature 
of things forbids it. But to the spiritual Zion, and 
heavenly Jerusalem, they have been fulfilled, and 
shall be more and more accomplished : for this holy 
hill may be found in all places of the world, and we 
may come to the city of the living God without a 
pilgiimage. 

They were places for whose protection the divine 
providence has often times awoke in a very extra- 
ordinary manner. Assembled kings have come with 
hostile design against these highly-favored places ; 
but instead of executing their cruel purpose, the 
joyful Israelites, after their departure, upon the most 
narrow inspection of their towers, palaces, and bul- 
warks, could not observe that any of them was bat- 
tered down, or even defaced. This was not owing 
to their own strength, but to the presence of their 
God. But this glorious prerogative, of being the 
peculiar care of Heaven, is now transferred to the 
Gospel Church, and all her true members. ** They 
that trust in the Lord, shall be like mount Zion, that 
can never be moved.'* 



First. THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES.* 

The feast of tabernacles was one of the three 
grand festivals, in which all the males of Israel ap- 
peared before God in Jerusalem. It began on the 

* The acceptable celebraliou of the following articles being 
fixed by divine appointment, to Jerusalem, they are introduced 
here to explain and illustrate the great importance of that city 
as a typical place, though, in another view, they might rather 
appear to belong to the head of tvplcal things. 
12 



246 TYPICAL PLACES. 

fifteenth day of the seventh month, which was four 
days after their mouraful fast on the day of expia- 
tion, and was celebrated with all possible demon- 
strations of joy, and natural gladness. It lasted 
eight days, and was the longest of all their solemni- 
ties, and the last day is called in the New Testament, 
** the great day of the feast." Upon this day, we 
are informed, "Jesus stood and ciied, If any man 
thirst, let him come unto me and drink," alluding, 
as is commonly thought, to a ceremony they usually 
performed on that occasion with great pomp, though 
it be not commanded in the law.* On all the eight 
days they were to offer the sacrifices, which are 
minutely commented upon by Moses. On the first 
day thirteen young bullocks, two rams, and fourteen 
lambs of the first year, and one kid of the goats for 
a sin-offering, beside the continual burnt- offering. 
But it is worthy of our notice, that the bullocks di- 



* Tremelliua, on John vii. 37, observes from tlie Talmud, that 
the Jews used, on the eighth day of this feast, to march round the 
altar seven times, singing Hosanna, with palm branches in their 
hands, in memory of the Israelites, in the days of Joshua, their 
marching round Jericho seven times on the day of its fall. And, 
besides, he informs us from the same authority, that on this day 
they drew water with great joy from the brook of Siloam, at the 
foot of Mount Zion, carried it to the priests of the temple, where 
they made a libation of it, mingled with wine, upon the altar. 
In the time of drawing the water, they simg that cheerful ditty of 
the prophet Isaiah, "With joy shall ye draw water out of the 
wells of salvation." They pretended that the prophets Haggai 
and Zechariah were the institutors of these rites; and they im- 
agined that the Holy Ghost was so delighted with their carnal 
mirth and vociferation, as to impart to them on this occasion a 
prophetical afflatus ; which happened, they say, to the prophet 
Jonah. The same writer observes, that as the Jews had mise- 
rably perverted this ordinance, by the addition of their own 
magical ceremonies ; so Christ intended to reprove and silence 
their mad vociferations, when he cried with a loud voice, and to 
lead tliem away from the terrestrial water to the water of life, 
and to himself the only scope of this feast, and of all the other 
ceremonies. 



FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 247 

minished. by one every subsequent day, till on the 
seventh day but seven were to be offered ; and upon 
the eighth and last, though the great day of the feast, 
they offered but one bullock. Did not God intend, 
by this gradual abatement as the solemnity advanced, 
to exhibit unto his people a representation of the 
decaying nature of that dispensation they were un- 
der, that a time should come when these sacrifices 
should vanish away altogether, and give place to 
more spiritual oblations, which should please the 
Lord better than any bullock that had both horns 
and hoofs 1 

But the ceremony that gave the name to this joy- 
ful feast, was their dwelling in booths the first seven 
days. These booths were made of olive branches, 
pine branches, myrtle branches, palm branches, wil- 
lows of the brook, and branches of other goodly 
trees, they cut down and caiTied about in their 
hands. And that none might be at a loss to know 
the meaning of this ordinance, it is expressly declar- 
ed by God himself *^ That your generations may 
know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in 
booths, when I brought them up out of the land of 
Egypt." — Lev. xxiii. 43. So prone are human 
minds to bury in oblivion those mercies that are past, 
that such rememorative institutions have been al- 
ways held necessary and expedient. And surely 
the divine power and goodness displayed to the 
forefathers of the Jews, in miraculously providing 
all necessary accommodations for them in a desolate 
wilderness, deserved anniversary celebration no less 
than their Exodus, or departure from Egypt. By 
this glad feast they praised God for that good land 
into which he had brought them. " Our ancestors," 
as if they had said, " once wandered in the wilder- 
ness, in a solitary way, they found no city to dwell 
in. But, O that men would praise the Lord for his 
goodness ! he led them forth by a way that was 



248 TYPICAL PLACES. 

right, to go to a city of habitation. Instead of those 
dreary prospects our fathers had in the wilderness 
forty years, we, their posterity, are introduced to 
this deHcious country where we sow fields, and 
plant vineyards, that yield us fruits of increase, 
whose rich and generous soil supplies us with those 
goodly trees from whence we pluck these verdant 
branches/' And we may add, with great probabil- 
ity, that their dwelling in booths so many days 
every year, was a solemn recognition that they were 
still in a wandering state, though settled in Canaan ; 
that they looked on themselves as strangers on the 
earth, even in the land of promise, as the patriarchs, 
from whom they spiTing confessed by dwelling in 
tents and tabernacles in this same land ; that they 
were but pilgrims here, and expected a better 
heavenly inheritance. Truly this has been the uni- 
versal acknowledgment of good men in every age, 
who have esteemed their felicity to arise, not so 
much from their present enjoyments, as their future 
prospects. They have not only counted themselves 
pilgrims and sojourners, when struggling with ad- 
versity, and wandering from one country to another, 
without a fixed abode ; but when elevated to the 
very summit of fortune, and enjoying the most pro- 
found repose which this ten-estrial state affords. A 
tahernacle is the common appellation of a dwelling 
place in the Old Testament ; and in the New Tes- 
tament the body in which the soul is lodged is styled 
by the great aj)ostle, ** the earthly house of this 
tabernacle," which is dissolved by death, and resigns 
to a more permanent house, a building of God, 
eternal in the heavens. David, a glorious king, 
called his palace *'the tabernacle of his house;" 
and Jesus Christ, when he lived on the earth, at 
least after he began to act in his public character, 
had no proper home, but chose to be the guest, 
sometimes to one, and sometimes to another of his 



FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 249 

followers. Whatever other reasons might be as- 
signed for this conduct of our Lord, it seems as if 
he had designed to exhibit to all his genuine disci- 
ples, an illustrious example of superior indifference 
to all sublunary things, and to inculcate in the 
strongest manner, upon their minds. Arise ye^ and 
depart; this is not your rest. Set not your affections, 
O my people, on this transitory scene of things ; 
remember the glorious hopes you entertaiu of ad- 
mission into the celestial mansions, and learn of me 
not to regard this world as your home. Then do 
we keep the feast of tabernacles in a special man- 
ner, when we raise our ardent hopes to those glad 
regions where God our Father, where Christ our 
elder brother, and all the holy saints, and blessed 
angels, inhabit for evermore ; when we view these 
earthly mansions, and even the grave itself, as but 
our short home, and places of transient residence, 
in comparison of eternal habitations. 

But the feast of tabernacles seems chiefly to be a 
figure of that holy joy, and spiritual gladness, which 
is both the duty and privilege of the true circumci- 
sion, who worship God in the Spirit. It is long 
since this solemnity was discontinued ; for God has 
made all their feast-days to cease ; and there is no 
warrant in the Scriptures for us under the Christian 
economy to revive this ceremonial ordinance. But 
still we have the substance of this shadow, and 
ought to keep this feast, though not in a carnal 
manner ; for a prophet of the Jews* fortells the 
conversion of the Gentiles, in phrases which evi- 
dently import, that these joyful rites are figures of 
gospel-worship. The Christian joy, both in the 



* Zech. xiv. 16. And it shall come to pass, that every one 
that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem, shall 
even go up from year to year, to worship the King, the Lord of 
hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles, &c. 



250 TYPICAL PLACES. 

present and future life, seem to have been prefigured 
by this J ewish festivity. 

It began soon after the sorrowful day of expiation, 
in v^hich they afflicted their souls, and had a lively 
representation of the great atonement. Exactly so, 
the Christian joy treads upon the heal of godly 
sorrovs^ : and it is the prerogative of the high and 
lofty One, to revive the spirit of the humble, and the 
heart of the contrite one. The bloody death, and 
meritorious sufferings of the great sacrifice, is the 
source from w^hence it springs. It is strange, but 
certain, the sinner's unspeakable joy arises from the 
Saviour's unutterable wo. Well may they keep a 
feast of tabernacles, who have received the atone- 
ment by Jesus Christ ; well may they shout for joy, 
whose iniquity is pardoned, whose transgression is 
covered, and to whom the Lord will not impute sin; 
for though he was angry with them, his anger is 
turned away. 

And as this solemn feast lasted eight days, the 
Christian's joy is not like the joy of the hypocrite, 
but for a moment ; for it should be perpetuated 
through the whole course of his life. *' Rejoice ever- 
more," is a New Testament precept perpetually 
obliging. There are times when carnal mirth may 
be very unseasonable, and highly improper; but 
what should forbid that joy in the Holy Ghost, 
which is the gladness of his nation to be indulged 
at all times ] It is a joy that may exist in the same 
soul together with the most unfeigned sorrow, and 
most lively contrition. It may even comport with 
the most afflicted state in this world, and abound in 
the greatest tribulations. It is a continual feast, 
which the unparalleled afflictions of Paul were not 
capable of interrupting. Job could say, ** Blessed 
be the name of the Lord," in the most complicated 
distress. And *' though the fig tree should not 
blossom, though fruit should not be found in the 



OF ANNIVERSARY ATONEMENT. 251 

vine, though the labor of the ohve should fail, 
though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and 
there should be no herd in the stall;'* it was the 
firm resolution of Habakkuk, *^ Yet will I rejoice in 
the Lord, and be glad in the God of my salvation." 
However, it must be owned, the feast is kept here 
but imperfectly. We are in heaviness through 
manifold temptations, and must not expect to have 
all tears wiped away in a place of sin and sorrow. 
The principal celebration of this festival is in 
' heaven,where alone there is fulness of pure unmixed 
joy. In comparison of this blessed state, how im- 
perfect is the present ! It may be resembled to the 
sorrowful day of expiation, that preceded this joyful 
feast. But as the Jews of old, for one day of sor- 
row had eight days of gladness, so momentary 
affliction shall there give place to everlasting joy. 
The beloved apostle describes the heavenly state in 
allusion to the ceremonies of this feast : *^And I 
beheld, and lo ! a gi'eat multitude, which no man 
could number, of all nations, and kindred, and peo- 
ple, and tongues, stood before the throne, and be- 
fore the Lamb, clothed with white robes ;" and, as 
the Jews were wont at the feast of tabernacles, they 
had palms in their hand, and sung with a loud voice 
the great hosanna. 



Secondly. THE FAST OF ANNIVERSARY 
ATONEMENT. 

Upon the tenth day of the seventh month, ( a 
month distinguished in the Jewish rubric for the 
great number of festivals observed in it,) the whole 
body of the people in Israel were required to keep 
a solemn fast to afflict their souls for sin, and to ab- 
stain from all manner of seivile work. But the chief 



252 TYPICAL PLACES. 

solemnities of the day consisted in those rites by 
which the high priest was to make atonement for the 
sins of his nation ; which rites were never practised 
but upon this occasion. Whatever our great High- 
Priest has done for the salvation of his people in 
earth beneath, or in heaven above was prefigured in 
these venerable solemnities. This the inspired wri- 
ter to the Hebrews having at great length illustrated 
to our hand, it will not be necessary to enlarge upon 
it. Let it suffice briefly to enumerate the sacerdotal 
actions resA'ved for this memorable day, and then * 
to hint at their typical sense. 

How then was the Jewish high-priest to equip 
himself for the service of the day ? He was to put 
on his holy linen garments after washing himself. 
He was to furnish himself with a bullock for a sin- 
offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, to be offered 
for his own sins, and the sins of his family. He was 
also to take of the congregation two kids of the 
goats for a sin-offering, and a ram for a burnt-offering. 
The two goats making but one offering together, 
were not to be used in the same manner. One of 
them was to be offered unto the Lord after the man- 
ner of a sin-offering ; the other presented alive before 
the Lord, and then dismissed into the wilderness. 
The sacrifices being prepared, he proceeded in the 
following manner : First, he killed the bullock, to 
atone for himself and family ; and taking in his hand 
a censer full of burning coals from off the altar, and 
a quantity of sweet incense sufficient to raise a cloud 
that should cover the mercy-seat, taking also the 
blood of his bullock in a vessel, he went also into the 
sanctuary, set the incense on fire, and sprinkled the 
blood upon and before the mercy-seat. The sacrifice 
for himself being thus performed, he returns out of 
the sanctuary, and kills the goat of the sin-offering for 
the people, and bringing his blood again within the 
vail, he sprinkles it, as he had done with the blood 



OF ANNIVERSARY ATONEMENT 2o3 

of the bullock, upon the mercy-seat, and likewise 
upon the golden altar. ** And,'' said the law giver 
of the Jews, '^ there shall be no man in the tabern- 
acle when he goeth in to make an atonement in the 
holy place, until he come out.'' The next ceremony 
is this ; he brings the live goat, and laying his hands 
upon the head of the creature, confesses over him 
all the iniquities of the children of Israel, putting 
them upon the head of the goat, and sends him by 
some fit man into the wilderness ; ** and the goat," 
said the Lord, ** shall bear upon him all the iniqui- 
ties of the children of Israel into a land not inhab- 
ited." This done, he goes into the tabernacle of 
the congregation, and stiipping himself of his linen 
garment, he deposits them in the holy place, washes 
himself, puts on his golden garments for glory and 
beauty, comes forth to the people, and offers the two 
rams for a burnt offering, the one for himself, and 
the other for the people. Lastly the fat of the sin- 
offering is burnt upon the altar, and the bodies of 
the bullock and goat, whose blood had been cariied 
into the holy place, were burned without the camp. 
Such is the order of the holy rites to be practised 
on this great anniversary, and the happy effects of 
it are said to be a cleansing from all their sins. Now% 
it is evident these carnal ordinances have many 
marks of weakness and imperfection. If we speak 
of real atonement, it was utterly impossible that the 
blood of these bullocks and goats could take sin 
away as pertaining to the conscience. They were 
but brute creatures, of inferior nature to the priest 
who offered them, and to the people for whom they 
were offered. They were offered by a sinful man, 
who needed atonement for himself. They were of- 
ered year by year continually, and in them a re- 
membrance was again made of sin every year. Now 
if they could have made the comers to them perfect, 
would they not have ceasbd to be offered ? Most 

12* 



25J^ TYPICAL PLACES. 

certainly they would. Because that the worshippers 
once purged, should have had no more conscience of 
sin. In all these things the Priest of our profession 
has the pre-eminence. He needed not, like Aaron 
and his successors, to offer for himself being harm- 
less and undefiled. He needed not to shed the blood 
of others ; for he was able to offer up himself. He 
needed not repeat his sacrifice oftener than once, 
or suffer often from the foundation of the world ; 
for by one offering he had forever perfected all them 
that are sanctified. These necessary allowances 
being made, of the vast disparity between the type 
and Jesus Christ, we shall proceed to enumerate 
some of these grand evangelical mysteries that were 
enigmatically preached unto the Jews in the trans- 
actions of this day. 

That in future time a true and proper atonement 
should be made for the sins of Israel, or, to use the 
style of the prophet Zechariah, " that God would 
remove the iniquity of his land in one day ;'' this 
seems to have been the leading doctrine held forth 
in all the sacrifices, but especially in those that were 
offered on this occasion. Yet a little while, and God 
will exhibit a propitiation, in the promised Messiah,* 
who shall finish transgression, and make an end of 
sin, and perfectly do that will of God, w^hich cannot 
be done by sacrifice for sin, and burnt-offerings. And 
how shall this great event be brought to pass ? how 
shall the Messias redeem Israel from all his iniqui- 
ties ] What shall he do ? What shall be done unto 
him ] How shall he begin, and in what manner shall 
he finish the arduous work ] These questions may 
all be answered by these anniversary rites. 

It was signified that the great maker of atonement 
should assume the nature for whom it should be 
made : for the high-priest was one of their brethren, 
and taken from among men. That when he should 
come into the world, to do the will of God, he should 



OF ANNIVERSARY ATONEMENT. 255 

not make a splendid figure, nor array himself with 
all that glory of which he is truly possessed. For 
as the high priest of the Jews, upon the day of atone- 
ment, put not on at the first his best suit of apparel, 
but was content with the holy linen gannents he 
wore in common with other priests. That he should 
be constituted a public person, and represent a great 
number of individuals, in whatever should be done 
by him. For the High-Priest did not officiate in the 
garments which he commonly wore, but in these 
public robes that were the badges of his public char- 
acter as the representative of the people. That the 
sins of all the redeemed should be transferred upon 
him and become his own by legal imputation. For 
all the iniquities of the children of Israel were sol- 
emnly confessed over the head of the scape-goat, be- 
fore he was dismissed into the wilderness. That 
w^hen thus charged with guilt, he should suffer the 
punishment of death, and his life be violently taken 
away. For the other goat, the bullock, and. the two 
rams, were killed for sin-offerings and. burnt offerings. 
And " without shedding of blood was no remission." 
That the blood of Jesus should be shed in a public 
manner without the gate. For the bodies of these 
beasts w^ere burned without the camp. That he 
should, however, live even when dead, as to his di- 
vine nature, and be a glorious conqueror of the grave 
by his resurrection. For the scape-goat, w^hich was 
the half of the sin-offering by the people, was not to 
be killed as the other goat. — That he should, when 
the work of purging our sins was finished, disappear 
on earth, enter within the vail of these aspectable 
heavens, into that happy place where God resides 
among the blessed angels. For when the High- 
Priest had shed the blood of the bullock and the goat, 
he went out of the sight of the Israelites, entering 
within the vail into that venerable apartment, where 
were the symbols of the divine presence, and where 



256 TYPICAL PLACES. 

Jehovah sat enthroned between the cherubims. That 
this most precious blood should be the key to open 
the everlasting gates, or should procure his welcome 
reception into the presence of God. For unless the 
high-priest had offered up the appointed victims, he 
durst not have presumed to see the face God in the 
most holy place. That though the heavens should 
contain him, and the world see him no more, he 
should still be carrying on his priestly work in the 
presence of Jehovah. For when the Jewish priest 
entered within the vail ; he perfumed the mercy 
seat with incense, and sprinkled it with blood. Truly, 
unless the high-priest had gone into the holiest of all 
wdth his blood and incense, he had not discharged 
the most glorious part of his work. If he had only 
offered the victims, and gone no further than the mid- 
dle court, the inferior priests had been upon a level 
with him ; for these things they did as well as he. 
So if Jesus Christ were still on earth, when he offer- 
ed up himself; if he had not gone to the Father, 
and retired from the view of men, he could not be 
a priest in the most eminent sense of the word, the^ 
most glorious part of his functions were still to be 
discharged, and the resemblance betwixt him and the 
Jewish high-priest would be very lame and imper- 
fect. But rejoice, O ye that believe in his name, and 
ye who make his atonement the principal basis of 
your comfort : for we have a great High-Priest, that 
was once on earth, but is now passed into the hea- 
vens, Jesus the Son of God. There he appears as a 
Lamb, as it has been slain, and stands with his gold- 
en censer, to offer up the incense of his intercession 
with the prayeis of all saints. A time will come, 
when the interposing vail shall be drawn aside, and 
the great High-Priest return with sound of trumpet, 
to bless his expecting people, and absolve them from 
all their iniquities before an assembled world; for 
** to them that look for him, he shall appear the sec- 
ond time without sin unto salvation/* 



257 



Thirdly. THE FEAST OF FIRST FRUITS 
AND OF PENTECOST. 

As it was the will of God, that his people should 
dwell alone, and be divided from all nations of the 
world by a wall of partition, till the Messias should 
come to pull it down ; so, besides a great number of 
other peculiarities, they must not plough, nor sow, 
nor reap, in the same manner as other people. The 
rites with which they began and finished their har- 
vest, are not unworthy of a particular notice. Be- 
sides the charitable regulation they obsers^ed, in not 
making a clean riddance of the corners of their field, 
nor gathering any gleanings, nor returning to fetch 
a forgotten sheaf; (for these were the perquisites of 
the poor stranger, the fatherless and the widow :) 
they were commanded to begin their harvest with 
offering to the Lord a sheaf, the first-fruits, and to 
end it in a holy convocation, and an offering of two 
loaves, with other solemnities. 

The beginning of harvest in the holy land, was on 
the morrow after the feast of the pass over, w^hen they 
presented their first-fruits unto the Lord, not only 
for the whole congregation, but, as it would seem, 
for every particular family. The form of words to 
be pronounced on this occasion by him that offered 
the first-fruits, is expressly recorded in the Jewish 
law ;* and the wise king of Israel enforces the obe- 
dience of this religious precept with the assurance 
of the heavenly benediction : " Honor the Lord with 
thy substance, and with the first-fruits of thine in- 
crease ; so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and 
thy presses shall burst out with new wine." They 
were themselves forbid to taste the produce of the 

* Deut. xxvi. 3. I profess this day, that I am come hito the 
country which the Lord svvare unto our fathers, for to give us. 
A Syrian ready to perish was my father, &c. 



258 TYPICAL PLACES. 

year, whether bread, parched corn, or green ears^ 
till they had brought the apponited offering to their 
God, as an acknowledgment of his dominion, and 
expression of their gratitude. It seems to have been 
a significant ceremony, intended to revive that law 
of nature. That the all bounteous Giver should be 
honored with our first and best. And ti'uly, the ob- 
servance of this rule is not only enjoined every 
where in the Mosaic ritual ; but may be traced as 
high as the offering of the first martyr, who brought 
unto the Lord of the firstlings of his flock; whereas 
no such thing is observed of the first murderer, to 
whose offering the Lord had no respect. Besides, 
when he who crowned the year with his goodness, 
required a sheaf to be given him, it might impress 
upon their minds such momentous truths as these, 
that we can give nothing to God but what we first 
receive from God : that what we present unto God, 
cannot be profitable unto him ; and that what he re- 
quires is nothing to what he bestows. What is a sin- 
gle sheaf to all the treasures of the harvest ] Would 
he not been a foolish Israelite, who should have re- 
garded his puny sheaf as an equivalent or price that 
deserved at God's hand the rich productions of the 
year 1 Nor is it less absurd for any to imagine, that 
their most useful actions can deserve the gift of eter- 
nal life, that joyful harvest of light that is sown for 
the righteous, and of gladness that is sown for the 
upright in heart. 

The end of harvest was upon the fiftieth day after 
it began. This day was solemnized with a religious 
assembling, and with abstaining from servile work. 
The husbandman had seen the fruits of his ground 
brought to maturity, and testified his gratitude by 
the sheaf which he offered, with holy rites, upon the 
first day ; and now he offers upon the fiftieth day, two 
large loaves of fine flour, baked with leaven, which 
are also called the first fruits unto the Lord, and were 



FEAST OF FIRST FRUITS, &c. 259 

a thank offering, as well as the sheaf, to that good 
God who had resei^ed for them the appointed weeks 
of the harshest. On the beginning of Pentecost they 
offered with the sheaf, a lamb without blemish, for 
a bunit offeiing ; but now their gratitude must rise 
in proportion to the favors they receive, and not one 
lamb, but seven lambs, one young bullock, and two 
rams, must smoke upon God's altar. 

We are informed by the historian of the New Tes- 
tament, that this fiftieth day coincided with the most 
remarkable event of the descent of the Holy Ghost 
upon the first founders of Christianity. " When the 
days of Pentecost were fully come, they were all 
with one accord in one place, and suddenly there 
came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing, mighty 
wind, and there appeared unto them cloven tongues 
as of fire, and sat upon each of them, and they were 
all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak 
with tongues as the Spiiit gave them utterance,' ' 
By inspecting the histoiy of the Israelites' march 
from Egypt, it will also be found, that upon this very 
day the law w^as given at mount Sinai. The con- 
junction of these two grand events on the last day of 
the Pentecost, seems not without some special inten- 
tion in the Holy Ghost, Fifty days after the deliv- 
erance from Egypt was the killing letter, or fiery law 
given ; and fifty days after the resurrection of Christ, 
our better deliverance, was the quickening Spirit dis- 
pensed, to write the law, not on hard tables of stone, 
but on the fleshy tables of the heart, and to qualify 
the apostles to begin a new harvest, far more impor- 
tant than what was now happily finished : a harvest 
not of corny but of men, to be reaped by putting 
the sickle of the Word of God into the field of the 
world. 

Such w^ere the sacred rites with w^hich the Jews 
began and finished their harvest ; and, in the lan- 
guage of the New Testament, whatever thing is the 



260 TYPICAL PLACES. 

beginning, pledge, and earnest of more of the same 
kind, is styled first-fruits. So the first-fruits of 
Achaia, denotes the most early converts to the Chris- 
tian faith in that part of the world : and those benign 
graces and consolations of the Holy Ghost, that are 
the earnest of the eternal inheritance, and denomin- 
ated the first fruits of the Spirit. But we shall 
chiefly observe the application of this epithet to 
Christ, and to believers. 

"Christ," says the inspired apostle, " is risen from 
the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that 
sleep." May we not hence affirm, that as the harvst 
is a natural emblem of the end of the world, and 
general resurrection; so the Jewish first-fruits did 
represent the resurrection of the Son of God. The 
bodies of the saints, when deposited in the grave, 
may be compared to that seed which the husband- 
man commits to the furrows of the field. One would 
imagine, that the gi'ain once buried under the clod, 
would never more emerge from under it. But con- 
stant experience assures us, that by the combined 
influence of vernal showers and suns, it will burst 
the confinement of the furrow, and reward the la- 
borer's toil with copious fruit. So, at the destined 
hour, the sleeping dust of saints shall revive as the 
corn ; the earth shall cast forth her dead, and shall 
no more cover her slain ; and what was sown in dis- 
honor, shall be raised in glory. The resurrection 
of the corn, is an event in the world of nature, that 
clearly proves the possibility of God's raising the 
dead. The resurrection of Jesus Christ advances 
further still, and evidently proves the certainty of 
our bodies arising from the dust. This- joyful event 
not only proclaims in loudest accents, that the dry 
bones can live, if it is the pleasure of God to send 
forth his quickening Spirit ; but asserts, in the 
strongest manner, that he will revive us^ he will raise 
us u/p, and tve shall live in his sight. AVere the first- 



FEAST OF FIRST FRUITS, &c. 261 

fruits reaped before the rest of the harvest ] So 
Christ the first-fruits was raised from the grave, and 
afterwards they that are Christ's shall be raised at 
his coming. Were the first-fruits a pledge and 
earnest to the Israelites, that the whole harvest 
should be reaped in due time ] The resurrection 
of Jesus Christ insures the resurrection of all his 
people at the appointed season. So runs the joyful 
declaration in the prophet, " Thy dead men shall 
live, together with my dead body shall they rise. 
Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust." 

But as the first-fruits are an emblem of Jesus 
Christ, they no less represent the faithful, and the 
redeemed from among men. ** Israel," says a pro- 
phet, ** was holiness to the Lord, and the first-fruits 
of his increase." And an apostle affirms, that " of 
his own will we are begotten by the word of truth, 
that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his crea- 
tures." Let us see the resemblance. The first- 
fruits were the unalienable property of the God of 
Israel, with which it had been sacrilege to inter- 
meddle. Even so, the redeemed are the portion of 
the Lord ; they are not their own, and all who de- 
vour them shall offend. The first-fruits were given 
by God to the priests, as a part of their maintenance. 
This puts us in mind of that saying of our High- 
Priest, " Thine they were and thou gavest them me. 
The first-fruits were but a small pait of the harvest. 
This may denote the paucity of saints, who, in com- 
parison of the multitude, are like an handful of 
corn in the earth. But, lastly, As the first-fruits did 
sanctify and bless the whole crop, and in thpir use 
were better than the rest ; even so, the people of 
God, though few and small, are the excellent of the 
earth, and a blessing in the midst of the land, how- 
ever much they may be undei-valued by worldly 
men. 



262 



Fourthly. THE FEAST OF THE MOON. 

As the feast of the new moon is placed among the 
shadow of good things to come, by the apostle of the 
Gentiles, we must not altogether pass over it. 
Though the beginning of the seventh month was 
peculiarly sacred, the beginnings of all the other 
months were also dedicated unto God, and solemn- 
ized with holy rites, and exercises of devotion. On 
their new moons they refrained from servile work, 
offered extraordinary sacrifices, "^ resorted to the 
prophets, feasted together, and blowed the silver 
trumpets. Let us try if we can assign the probable 
reasons of this service, or the moral instructions that 
may be learned from this statue unto Israel, and law 
of the God of Jacob. 

And, first, might it not be designed as. an ascrip- 
tion of praise and thanksgiving to that glorious 
Being who suspended that silver lamp in the blue 
vault of heaven, that it might smooth the shades of 
night with its cheerful boiTowed rays, turn the 
ocean in its bed, divide our time, and serve the pur- 
poses of vegetation, as well as the golden ruler of 
the day ] They acknowledged, by this festival, that 
God, who is above, was the prime mover of this and 
other heavenly luminaries ; that to him they were 
indebted for all the beneficial effects of these ex- 
cellent creatures. Had they intended to address 

* The sacrifices for the new moon appointed fti the Mosaic law, 
are two joung bullocks, one ram, seven lambs, &c. Lev. xxviii, 
11. Ezekiel mentions but one young bullock, six lambs, and a 
ram, chap. xlvi. 6. though the church-state which he describes, is 
supposed to be more glorious than the former one. We see from 
this, the ceremonial law was not designed to be unalterable * for 
not only the priesthood being changed, (which the apostle ob« 
serves, Heb. vii. 12.) but the sacrifice also being changed, 
(according to Ezekiel,) there is made of necessity a change also 
of tlie law. 



THE FEAST OF THE MOON. 263 

their homage to the host of heaven themselves, and 
not him v^^ho formed them by the breath of his 
mouth, they w^ould no doubt have rather blown 
their trumpets to the rising sun, or to the moon at 
her full, v^hen she vralks in brightness. But God, 
who is jealous of his glory, required that he should 
be praised for this good creature, not when she 
appears to her greatest advantage, but when she is 
altogether invisible, or dimly seen, like an in- 
considerable streak of light. By this precaution 
none can suspect, but the sacred rites were in honor 
of him who made the sun to rule by day, and the 
moon to rule hy night; for his mercy endureth 
for ever. 

Might it not also be intended as a solemn recog- 
nition, that God was the sole proprietor of their 
times, which are wholly in his hand, and ought to be 
dedicated unto his service ] The first days of their 
month might be offered to God for the same reasons, 
as the first fruits of their ground. Hereby they 
disclaimed the superstition of the Heathen, who 
were dismayed at the signs of heaven, and esteemed 
some parcels of their time ill-fated or unlucky. 
As every creature of God is good ; so no time is 
evil, being sanctified by the same word of God and 
prayer. If the first-fruits be holy, so is the lump ; 
and if the first day of every month be holy, the 
subsequent days are consecrated by it. 

But chiefly, as one is apt to look for some notices 
of the Messiah in all the legal ordinances, might not 
this monthly festival, and especially the feast of 
trumpets in the seventh month of their civil, but 
first of their sacred year, be viewed by them as a 
faint shadow of the future renovation of all things 
by Jesus Christ % Though we must not be bold in 
fixing our own conjectures upon the Holy Ghost, 
as his undoubted meaning, there seems, however, to 
be a considerable likeness betwixt the blowing of 



264 TYPICAL PLACES. 

the trumpet at the new moon, and the voice both of 
the gospel and the archangel. 

First, It might perhaps be a figure of the new face 
the church should wear in the age of the Messiah. 
In other places, the universal church is compared to 
the moon, and the preaching of the gospel is resem- 
bled to the blowing of a great trumpet. What 
though we should consider the old moon as an em- 
blem of the Jewish economy, which like that wan- 
ing orb, decayed, waxed old, and vanished away. 
But the Christian dispensation may be compared to 
the new moon, which, though small at first, did 
gradually increase, while the sound of the gospel 
trumpet, the voice of our great High-Priest, did go 
into all the earth, and his words unto the end of the 
world. Who knows but the believing Jews might, 
by this feast, express their faith and joy in that hap- 
py revolution, which the apostle calls, *' the abolsh- 
ing in his flesh the enmity, even the law of com- 
mandments contained in ordinances, to make in 
himself of twain one new man. 

Or, lastly, may we not discern in this monthly 
festival, a shadow of the awful transactions in the 
great and terrible day of the Lord; which shall 
however, be a joyful period to all true Israelites, 
and the time of the restitution of all things ] This 
visible world itself may be resembled to a waning 
moon, as the fashion of it passes away. But as the 
new moon succeeded the old, while the priests did 
blow with their trumpets ; so when the last trumpet 
shall sound, the dead shall be raised incorruptible, 
and the living shall be changed, this corruptible 
shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put 
on immortality. Then shall that blessed state com- 
mence, when, according to the sublime prophet, 
** Thy sun, O Zion, shall be no more thy light by 
day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light 
unto thee ; but the Lord shall be unto thee an ever- 



METAPHORICAL PRIESTHOOD. 265 

lasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall 
no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw 
itself; for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, 
and the days of thy mourning shall be ended." 



Fifthly. THE METAPHORICAL PRIEST- 
HOOD OF ALL CHRISTIANS. 

Although the Levitical priests were chiefly de- 
signed to prefigure the great High Priest, as has 
been said, this hinders not to view them also as em- 
blems of all the saints, who in every age are caused 
to approach unto God, that they may dwell in the 
house of the Lord for ever. It is true indeed, the 
great propitiatory sacrifice is already offered, never 
to be repeated again ; and we cannot sufficiently 
detest that sacriligious usurpation of the Redeem- 
er's glory, by the pretended priests in the Roman 
Church, who, without any the least warrant from 
the sacred oracles, give out to their deluded votaries, 
that they offer in the mass, I know not what un- 
bloody sacrifice for the sins of the living and the 
dead. O impiety ! O absurdity ! for can any thing 
be more wicked and foolish, than to imagine that 
Jesus Christ has not, by his one offering, for ever 
perfected all them that are sanctified, but left his 
work to be completed by a wretched, mumbling, 
mortal priest! We Christians must acknowledge, 
that all priesthood, in the strict literal sense, is now 
ceased in Christ the end of the law. But still there 
is a metaphorical priesthood, which the New Testa- 
ment ascribes, not to the oflftce bearers in the Chris- 
tian Church, but to all Christians without exception. 
It was the promise of God to his ancient people, 
that " they should be unto him a kingdom of priests; 
and the phrase is adopted by a New Testament 



266 TYPICAL PLACES. 

apostle, who says to the whole body of the believers 
to whom he wrote, " Ye are a royal priesthood." 
It was foretold by the holy prophets, that men 
should call the professors of the true religion, " the 
priests of the Lord," and " the ministers of our 
God ;" — that the Gentiles should be taken for priests 
and Levites ; — that the priestly tribe should have an 
offspiing numerous as the host of heaven, and the 
sand of the sea, that in every place which the rising 
and setting sun surveys, incense, and a pure offer- 
ing should be offered to the true God. These great 
and precious promises have already been, and still 
more shall be fulfilled. The company of the re- 
deemed were seen by John in vision, arrayed in 
white robes the badges of their priestly character; 
and he heard their heavenly song of praise to that 
loving Saviour that washed them from their sins in 
his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests 
unto God. Though the analogy of the legal and 
metaphorical priesthood may not perhaps be so 
striking as betwixt Aaron and Christ Jesus, there is 
not wanting a considerable resemblance. 

Were the Levitical priests chosen by God, and 
separated to his peculiar service ? God hath chosen 
the faithful from the rest of mankind, and set apart 
him that is godly for himself. Were they taken in 
the room of the first-born of all the tribes, to whom 
the right of priesthood seemed to have originally 
belonged ] The people of Christ are the general 
assembly and church of the fi7'st-born, as all God's 
children are. Were they all descended from Aaron 
and Levi ] (for unless they could prove their genea- 
logy, they were put from the priesthood as polluted.) 
So all the saints are descendants from Jesus Christ, 
their everlasting Father, and ought to ascertain their 
heavenly extraction by the documents of a holy con- 
versation. They were washed with water at their 
consecration, and were always to use the great laver 



METAPHORICAL PRIESTHOOD. 267 

that stood in the entry of the tabernacle, when they 
ministered in the sanctuaiy. This puts us in mind 
of the washing of regeneration, that all Christians 
partake at first ; and of the frequent recourse to the 
fountain of Christ's blood in their holy services. 
The oil that anointed them, signified the unction of 
the Spirit, which the faithful receive from the holy 
One. The white raiments of fine linen, is an em- 
blem of the righteousness of the saints. They were 
not allowed a share of the earthly Canaan, as the 
other tribes ; for the Lord spake unto Aaron, 
" Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, nor 
have any part among them : I am thy pait, and 
thine inheritance." Was not this a lively type of the 
superior privilege of his beloved, who are delivered 
from the men of the world, who have their wretch- 
ed portion in this transitory life ] but the Lord is 
their portion, and therefore in him they may hope, 
be their outward state ever so indigent. The cere- 
monial purity required of them that bore the vessels 
of the Lord, denotes, that holiness becomes the 
house of the Lord for ever, and all who worship in 
his temple. 

But what are their sacrifices 1 Let an apostle 
speak this : they are " spiritual sacrifices, acceptable 
to God by Jesus Christ." Perhaps we might say, 
to use the legal style, there is the meat-offering of 
charitable distributions ; the drink-offering of peni- 
tent tears, issuing from a broken contrite heart; the 
heave-offering of prayer, and elevated desires ; the 
peace-offering of praise and thanksgiving ; and the 
whole burnt-offering of the whole man, when the 
body is presented unto God a living sacrifice, when 
every lust is mortified, and the very life suri'endered 
for the honor of God in martyrdom, which some- 
times is a reasonable service. These are the sacri- 
fices which all the saints should offer, not to an un- 
atoned, but to an atoned God. They themselves are 



268 TYPICAL PLACES. 

their temples ; and, besides, they have access by 
faith into heaven, the holiest of all. Christ is their 
altar that sanctifies all their gifts. His Spirit is the 
fire that inflames, and his merit is the salt that pow- 
ders all their sacrifices, vv^hen they come with ac- 
ceptance before the presence of Jehovah. 



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